IOWA CITY, Iowa -- On the final day of 2015 regular season, Northwestern was unable to complete a comeback against Iowa in an 8-6 loss, but still clinched fourth place in the Big Ten and a bye at next week's Big Ten Tournament.

Northwestern concludes the regular season with a 27-20 overall record, 14-8 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats will open the B1G Tourney at 11 a.m. CT/noon ET Friday in the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of Thursday's opening round game between the No. 5 seed Illinois and the No. 12 seed Purdue.

Iowa scored in each of the first four innings Sunday to build an 8-2 lead before Northwestern began chipping away with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but the Hawkeyes did not allow the Wildcats to get any closer.

With two outs in the top of the first, Northwestern rallied for the game's first run. Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) and Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) each had singles before Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) and Sammy Nettling (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon del Oro) each walked to force Filler home for a 1-0 NU edge.

Iowa returned the favor in the bottom of the first, loading the bases on three walks with no outs. Northwestern starter Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) then got a pop out to Brooke Marquez (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) at second and a strikeout before building a 2-2 count to the next batter. After putting runners in scoring position in five different innings Friday but not scoring in a five-hit Wood shutout, Iowa was finally able to cash in on a rally with a grand slam to take a 4-1 lead.

Iowa got its two leadoff batters in the bottom of the second aboard, eventually loading the bases with one out. An RBI groundout brought one run home before Wood ended the rally before more damage could be done.

Northwestern got one run back in the top of the third when Filler clubbed a solo home run to left center, making it a 5-2 game on Filler's team-best 12th home run of the year.

Iowa pushed its lead to five runs in the bottom of the third when the same Hawkeye who hit the grand slam in the first added a two-run homer.

Olivia Duehr (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) led off the top of the fourth with a walk, then Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) hit a sharp chopper up the middle that appeared destined for center and a base hit, but Iowa's shortstop came from nowhere to glove it and turn a 6-3 double play, ending the rally.

While holding NU at bay with great defense, Iowa's offense continued to pour on the pressure at the plate. A one-out double that was lost in the sun came around to score on another base hit, extending the home team's lead to six runs, 8-2, on its Senior Day.

Northwestern rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, beginning with a Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) single and steal of second. With one out and Rabin at third, Filler drove her in with an RBI groundout for the first NU run of the frame. Letourneau kept the rally going with a walk and Abbey Boyd (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) entered to pinch run before Kuhn continued her red-hot series, hitting her second triple in as many days to left to bring Boyd around and cut the NU deficit down to four, 8-4.

Duehr entered the circle in relief of Wood in the top of the fifth and Iowa promptly loaded the bases against her with no outs. The next batter hit a one-hop liner toward Edwards at third that the senior gloved and brought home for out number one before the next batter did the same thing, allowing Edwards to step on third and throw to first for an inning-ending double play to keep the score 8-4.

NU seized on the opportunity to pull ever closer in the top of the sixth. Duehr led off with a double and Marissa Panko (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) entered to run for her. A couple of ground balls later, Panko was erased and Marquez stood at first with two outs. Rabin then chopped a ball high to third and the throw to first went wide, allowing Marquez to move to third and Rabin to second on the single/error combo. Senior Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) rifled a ball at the second baseman that she couldn't handle in self-defense, resulting in a two-run single.

The inning continued with a walk to Filler that pushed DiPrima to second before Letourneau hit a grounder toward short. DiPrima flashed in front of the fielder just as the ball arrived and took a terrible hop, but the Hawkeyes' shortstop dropped to a knee and stabbed the ball near her ear before flipping to second to end the inning.

Fran Strub (Coralville, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana), who entered the game in left when Duehr moved to the circle, made an incredible leaping catch while slamming into the wall to help Duehr have another scoreless inning of relief in the bottom of the sixth, keeping NU within two runs entering the seventh. In that seventh, no more NU runs came, however.

Wood (15-9) took the loss, allowing eight runs on five hits and seven walks with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work. Duehr tossed two scoreless innings of relief with two hits and two walks.

Rabin was 2-for-4 with two runs and a steal in the game while Filler went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs and a walk. DiPrima drove in a pair.

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