Jaylee Ojo overcomes injury to get back in the swing of things for Iowa softball

IOWA CITY – University of Iowa’s Jaylee Ojo is getting into the swing of things again.

She has overcome a shoulder injury and surgery that has hampered her impact at the plate shortly after she joined the program in the fall of 2023.

Ojo displayed patience and resilience to work her way back. About a month after being cleared to bat again, Ojo delivered a big blast that helped Iowa put away a rival.

Ojo hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth, while Jalen Adams spun a two-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over Iowa State in a Cy-Hawk Series softball game Tuesday night at Pearl Field. Her first collegiate home run came at a good time for the Hawkeyes.

“Honestly, I just wanted to take it in a bit because it's been a while,” said Ojo, who entered the game with just four at-bats and six plate appearances this season, “I haven't been able to hit for quite some time, coming back from injuries. It was nice to have the bat back in my hands and help my team in that way. So, I just was really trying to grasp it all.”

Ojo suffered through a torn labrum last year. She was able to pitch, posting a 4-3 record in 16 appearances and 10 starts. The injury limited her to just two at-bats. Ojo underwent surgery in the summer to repair her shoulder and was cleared for the Wisconsin series the last weekend of March.

The short time back in the batter’s box had produced one single and two hit-by-pitches. Despite the lack of in-game swings, Ojo remained confident in her ability.

“My team has full faith in me,” Ojo said. “My coach has faith in me. I was picked to be in that moment so I just wanted to take full advantage. If I got the pitch that I wanted, I was going to execute.”

Iowa took a 1-0 lead when Tatianna Roman drew a walk and scored on Tory Bennett’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Hawkeyes continued to cling to the slim advantage until the sixth. Bennett led off with a base hit and Hannah Lindsay added a single. Soo-Jin Berry’s walk loaded the bases with one out.

Iowa acting head coach Karl Gollan told Ojo to be ready to hit the previous inning. He brought her in to pinch hit for Avery Jackson. Gollan said he had been waiting for her to barrel up on a pitch.

“You see it in practice,” Gollan said. “She's just got that exceptional exit (velocity) and that bounce off the bat, so I knew the moment she would run into one at some point that would be the result.”

Ojo worked the count full and smacked a shot over the center field wall.

“I honestly was just hoping to make hard, solid contact and move with the runners as best as I could,” Ojo said. “If a grand slam came out of that, then so be it.”

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Adams (23-5) allowed a two-out single in the seventh but struck out Sydney Malott for the final out.

“I feel like that’s pretty big for me,” Adams said about closing with her seventh strikeout. “My goal is to get a good pitch across and the result will be whatever it is. So, it was pretty cool. I was really happy for my team.”

Adams stymied Iowa State. She allowed just three baserunners and none reached second base. Adams retired 15 straight batters from the end of the second until the two-out hit in the seventh.

“From my eyes, it was probably the most efficient outing of the year,” Gollan said. “Never really got herself in any trouble with regards to count. She stayed ahead of hitters and it gave us multiple options to get hitters out in different ways.”

The Hawkeyes (32-17) avenged a loss to the Cyclones (28-21) in Ames two weeks ago and have won seven of their last eight games. Iowa also beat Iowa State for the first time since a 2-1 victory in 2017 and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series.

Gollan said it is an important win that means a lot to the fans, program and the school, despite trying to keep the same approach as other games.

“it was a big one,” Gollan said. “But at the end of the day, in order to win games like this, you've got to do the same thing you would do against any other team, which is play fundamentally sound softball, which we did.

“You got to pitch great in the middle, and then you’ve got to find a way, offensively, to get barrel to ball and put up some runs.”

Iowa hosts University of Northern Iowa on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com