Photo by University of Iowa Athletics: Former Fort Dodge standout Jalen Adams pitches against sixth-ranked UCLA on Sunday in Iowa City.

IOWA CITY — Tory Bennett knew exactly what she was going to do with the bases loaded in a tight game against the fifth-ranked team in the nation on Sunday.

The Iowa softball squad trailed UCLA 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when the former Fort Dodge all-stater stepped into the batter’s box.

“I was confident and ready,” Bennett said. “I hit multiple solid balls off of the (same) pitcher (on Saturday), so I knew this was my time.”

The previous at bat by Jena Young had a review, giving Bennett even more time to prepare.

“They were looking at Jena’s hit, so I went in the box and took some dry swings for visualization and said to myself, ‘yup, I’m swinging at the first pitch,'” Bennett said. “I took the approach that I was going to give us the lead again.”

Bennett laced a bases-clearing double down the left-field line to give Iowa the lead 5-4. Iowa then tacked on two more runs for a 7-4 victory and the upset.

The victory was the program’s highest-ranked win in 10 seasons, and the first over a rated opponent this year in nine tries. The Hawkeyes’ last Top-5 triumph was against No. 4 Michigan in 2015.

“It feels so good to finally get that big win that we’ve been so close to achieving,” Bennett said. “Everything has come together, and we’re playing some of our best ball right now.”

The Hawkeyes (19-9 overall) have a doubleheader with South Dakota State on Tuesday, before heading to Wisconsin for three games on Friday through Sunday.

“We are so close as a team, and it truly shows on the field and shows through our performance,” Bennett said. “We’re not done yet, and we are ready for another Big Ten series (this) after South Dakota State. That’s five games we know we need to get.

“It’s just the beginning. We are ready to continue proving everyone wrong.”

Like so many times before as Dodgers, Bennett and fellow FDSH all-stater Jalen Adams, the classmates partnered up to make a difference.

Adams, who pitched the first game against UCLA on Saturday, relieved in the fifth inning. She then drew a walk in the sixth at the plate and scored on the Bennett hit.

Adams (14-3) picked up her 14th win of the season, striking out three and allowing only one run.

“I love this team so much. We’ve just been focusing on playing simple, clean softball,” Adams said. “What it comes down to is just us playing together for one common goal. We’ve been putting in the work on the field to put ourselves in good scenarios to close out big games.”

It’s been a complex year so far for the Hawks. After head coach Renee Gillispie took the season off for health reasons, their interim coach left the program as well.

The players have rallied around each other and current coach Brian Levin.

“With all of the adversity we’ve been facing, it’s done nothing but bring us closer together. We’re all truly playing for one another,” Adams said. “We have a pretty busy few days coming up with some tough opponents (this week), but I think our ability to come together and play as one has already taken us so far.

“I can’t wait to see what we do with our (strong) chemistry in the next few weeks.”