Laker Softball Sweeps Iowa Central

Iowa Lakes Softball turned to the long ball, hitting four homeruns, to take game one 6-3 over Iowa Central CC. The Lakers then put up fourteen hits in game two and completed the sweep with a 7-4 victory. ILCC improves to 14-8 overall and 5-3 in conference.

Game one: ILCC 6, ICCC 3

Iowa Lakes continued their hot hitting, scoring five runs on four homeruns. Kelly Drake struck out five and allowed six hits to earn her ninth win of the season.

After a Shelby Davis single, Drake stepped in and hit the Lakers first homerun of the game. Two batters later, Blaney Markman blasted the second homerun of the day over the center field fence to make it 3-1. Lauren Hein put one over the fence in the third and the fifth to make the score 5-2. The Lakers scored their final run of the game in the sixth inning when Brit Evans led off with a single, stole second and third, and then scampered home on a Hein single.

The Lakers were led offensively by Lauren Hein, who was 3-4 with two homeruns and three RBI's and Brit Evans who was also 3-4 with three stolen bases.

Game two: ILCC 7, ICCC 4

Iowa Lakes held off a seventh inning surge by Iowa Central to complete the sweep with a 7-4 win.

The Lakers struck first, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Baylee Bechen led off the game by getting hit by a pitch. After stealing second and advancing to third on a pass ball, Lauren Hein drove a ball up the middle to score her. Hein then stole second and advanced to third on a Caitlyn Clayton single. Calkins picked up her first RBI of the game, scoring Hein on a single to left. Clayton and Calkins moved up on a ground ball out to first base by Shelby Davis. Kelly Drake scored Clayton on a single up the middle, but the inning ended with Calkins being thrown out at the plate.

Brit Evans led off the third inning with a single, stole second, and then scored on a RBI single that got under the centerfielders glove by Clayton. Clayton then scored on a single by Davis. The Lakers added two more in the bottom of the fifth on four hits to make it a 7-1 ball game.

Iowa Central put up a fight, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh on three hits and two errors. ILCC starting pitcher, Calkins buckled down and retired two batters in the row to end the game. Calkins picked up the win for the Lakers, allowing eight hits and striking out six.

Caitlyn Clayton and Courtney Calkins were both 2-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Shelby Davis and Kelly Drake also had two hits in the game.

The Lakers play at home again tomorrow, April 4th, against Des Moines Area Community College. The game times are 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Please note the time change.