- Both games decided in eight innings
- Kirkwood CC wins the opener, 2-1
- DMACC takes the second game, 8-7
The DMACC softball team, ranked ninth in the Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and seventh-ranked Kirkwood Community College (KCC) split a doubleheader April 24 at Cedar Rapids.
Both games were decided in eight innings. KCC took the opener, 2-1, with a run in the bottom of the eighth and DMACC scored a run in the top of the eighth in the second game to come away with an 8-7 victory, ending the Eagles 25-game winning streak.
The split gives DMACC a 37-9 overall record and a 20-4 mark in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC). DMACC is tied with North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) for second place in the ICCAC, two games behind KCC, with four games remaining in the regular season.
DMACC took a 1-0 lead in the opener with a run in the top of the sixth. KCC tied it in the bottom of the inning and the game went into extra innings after neither team scored in the seventh.
Sophomore Kelsey Palmer of Cedar Rapids scored DMACC's run. She opened the inning with a base on balls and moved to second on a base hit by freshman Hilary Wilson of Solon. Both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Campbell Kelley of Rock Island, Ill., and Palmer scored on an infield grounder by freshman Josie McCuddin of Truro.
KCC tied the game on a two-out double in the bottom of the inning and got the win on a two-out base hit in the bottom of the eighth.
Sophomore Courtney Donahue of Marshfield, Wis., suffered the loss, her third of the season against 19 wins. She threw all eight innings, allowing two runs on six hits with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
Freshman Delaney Milanowski of Spring Green, Wis., accounted for two of DMACC's seven hits with a pair of singles and McCuddin had a double.
Sophomore Bella Nelson of Gilbert got the Bears the win in the second game when she bunted into a fielder's choice, moved to second on a walk to sophomore Elle Nelson of Grimes and advanced to third on Palmer's base hit. Wilson then grounded into a fielder's choice with Bella Nelson scoring on the play.
Freshman Macy Blomgren of Waukee got the win after holding the Eagles scoreless in the bottom of the inning. She gave up a two-out double and then retired the next batter she faced to preserve the victory.
DMACC took a 3-0 lead in the first inning but KCC answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning for a 4-3 lead. The Bears tied it in the top of the second and then went up 6-4 with two runs in the top of the fourth. KCC responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 7-6 lead and DMACC tied it in the fifth on Milanowski's solo home run.
Wilson had an RBI double in the first inning and DMACC got its other two runs on an infield grounder by Kelley and a base hit from Milanowski. Sophomore Hannah Ironside of Swisher homered for DMACC's run in the second and Kelley drove in two runs with a double in the fourth.
Elle Nelson, Palmer, Milanowski and Ironside had two hits apiece with Elle Nelson getting a pair of doubles and Kelley and Wilson coming away with one double apiece. Kelley led the Bears in RBIs with three and Wilson and Milanowski had two apiece.
Sophomore Kinsley Robertson of Tiffin pitched the first three innings for DMACC, allowing four runs on seven hits with one strikeout and one walk. Sophomore Lauryn Foudree of West Des Moines went one inning and allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and Blomgren gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked one in four innings in the circle. She improved to 2-0 with the win.
The DMACC softball team will close out the regular season with doubleheaders against Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) and Hawkeye Community College (SWCC) April 27 and 28 respectively at the DMACC softball diamond. ICCC is 33-17 overall and 16-8 in the ICCAC including 9-0 and 6-0 losses to DMACC March 30 at Fort Dodge. HCC is 7-33 overall and 3-21 in the ICCAC. DMACC defeated the Red Tails 13-0 and 15-2 March 29 at Hudson.