Laker Softball Advances to 7-2

The Iowa Lakes Softball team played their first two games in Florida yesterday. The team will play twelve games in five days while in Clermont, Florida. Their first game was an 8-0, six inning, win over Monroe Community College. Courtney Calkins picked up her fourth win of the season. The Lakers then took down Rowan College of Burlington County 9-2. Ashton Kazmierski started the game for the Lakers going three innings, but Kaitlyn Bowman picked up the winning throwing the final four innings.

Game One: ILCC 8, MCC 0 (6 innings)

The Lakers started off a bit slow in game one, scoring their first run of the game in the second inning. Blaney Markman led off with a walk and then used some crafty base running to advance herself to second. Desiree Lopez then singled, which allowed Markman to advance to third before Julia Sullowld hit a line drive over the shortstops head to score Markman.

The Lakers busted things open in the fourth, scoring five runs. The big inning was thanks to a homerun by Kaitlin Walsh, doubles by Lauren Hein and Leilani San Pedro, and a single by Markman. They tacked on two runs in the sixth inning with a walk to San Pedro and a homerun by Deanna Gerrard.

Calkins pitched a six inning shutout victory for the Lakers. She allowed just four hits, while striking out two. Offensively, the Lakers collected twelve hits. Shelby Davis, Julia Sullwold, and Lauren Hein all had multi-hit games and Gerrard and Walsh each had a homerun in the ballgame.

Game 2: ILCC 9, Rowan College 2

The Lakers took the momentum from game one into the first inning of the second game. A Hein walk was followed by a San Pedro single, before Gerrard hit her second homerun of the day to take a quick 3-0 lead after the first.

The third inning saw three more runs scored by the Lakers. Hein and San Pedro both single before a ground ball to the shortstop retired San Pedro at second. Gerrard then put herself in scoring position by stealing second base. Davis then stepped up an crushed a double off the left center fence to score Hein and Gerrard. Markman followed with a double of her own to make it a 6-0 ballgame.

Rowan College pushed back in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs of their own of a homerun by Earley. It took the Lakers two more innings to cross the plate again. Montanna Popp started the sixth inning with a single before Lopez sacrificed her to second base. Sullwold followed with a single, before Hein hit a homerun over the left field fence. Kaitlyn Bowman shut continued to shut down Rowan College to complete the 9-2 victory.

In the circle, the Lakers used both Ashton Kazmierski and Kaitlyn Bowman. Kazmierski allowed two earned runs in three innings off of five hits, four walks, two hit batters, and two strikeouts. Bowman picked up the win for the Lakers, pitching the final four innings of the game. She allowed no runs on two hits, walking one, and striking out three.

Deanna Gerrard led the Lakers offensively in game two. She was 2-4 with a triple and homerun. Gerrard batted in three runs, while crossing the plate two times herself. Hein was 2-3 with a homerun, two runs batted in, and three runs scored. San Pedro, Davis, and Popp each had two hits in the game as well.

The Lakers will continue their play tomorrow at 3:30 PM eastern time against Century College. They will then play Mott Community College at 6:00 PM and Monroe Community College at 8:30 PM.