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155 M egan Blank doesn't know much about New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig, but the two have a lot in common. Blank is a senior shortstop on the University of Iowa soball team; Gehrig played 17 seasons of Major League baseball. While both have proven themselves at the plate (Blank is a career .404 hitter, Gehrig batted .340), their stamina and consistency sets them apart. Gehrig, the Iron Horse, played 2,130 consecutive games; Blank, the Iron Hawkeye, has a current streak of 191 games in a row. "It has crossed my mind and I have noticed it," Blank said about her consecutive games-played streak. "It is a cool thing to be able to say. It's nice to be productive when you first step on campus. at's something I have been proud of." Blank is from Culver City, California, but her family roots are in Iowa. Her parents, James and Marcia, are University of Iowa alumni, and her father's family is from Iowa City. During the Hawkeyes' Rose Bowl appearance in 1986, James and friends attended the game and basked in the Southern California weather. "He came back and told my mom we need to get out of the cold and go to California," Megan said. And they did, all the while maintaining their allegiance to the Hawkeyes. "Growing up a Hawk fan on the West Coast is kind of different than all the home-grown Iowans," Blank said. "I still feel that same connection that other girls on the team who are from Iowa feel. Having that family tie is something not everyone has, and it is cool to be a Hawkeye from the West Coast. e Blank family heart is in Iowa." Blank played baseball throughout Little League, oen being the only girl on the team. She switched to soball by the time she was a teenager. "My dad said these boys are getting pretty big and I was still pretty small," Blank said. When Blank was a child, neighbors learned quickly to keep expensive vehicles out of sight when Megan and her brother were playing in the street. One day Megan and JD were playing catch and hitting ground balls. A neighbor's friend parked their shiny red sports car at the end of the cul-de-sac. It wasn't long before Megan sent a ball straight into the car's windshield. "Our mom made us pay out of our allowance, but they still let us play in the street," Blank said. at might have laid the foundation for playing through anything, regardless of the situation. In high school, Blank was a four-time All- California Interscholastic Federation selection, including first-team honors as a sophomore, junior, and senior. e three-time team captain was named second-team all-region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. "She goes out and exudes what a true ball player should be, that passion oozes out of her," UI head coach Marla Looper said. "She has skills that are hard to teach, especially when people get to be 18, 19, 20 years old. It's from a long time ago." When Blank arrived at the UI, she was an immediate and reliable contributor. She batted .390 with 17 doubles and five triples in 53 games as a freshman in 2012 and topped that as a sophomore, hitting .437 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs in 54 games. Last season in 47 games, Blank batted .361. She is a three-time first-team All-Big Ten performer and was named NFCA First-Team All-Midwest Region once and to the second team twice. Aer her sophomore season, Blank was named third-team All-America by College Sports Madness. e Hawkeyes are off to a 11-26 start to the 2015 season. Blank leads the team with a .429 average, 45 hits, and 20 RBI.