The Iowa Lakes Community College Softball team earned two wins in their home opener against Marshalltown today with final scores of 17-1 and 11-2. With the two five-inning wins, the Lakers moved to 20-9 overall for the season.

GAME 1: 17 (ILCC), 1 (MCC) 6 innings 

            In the circle for the Lakers, Macy Pickett started off strong, sitting down the first three batters with a strikeout, pop-out, and ground out. On the offensive side, Kaitlyn DuChateau started the inning with a walk and Marrissa Miller doubled, putting two runners into scoring position. Korilynn Christians then took a walk to load the bases. With one out, Miller scurried home on a passed ball and Pickett came up big with a single to the center fielder, scoring two for the Lakers. Alexis Cullinane would add a single of her own and a two-out single from Myla Murphy reloaded the bases. Abby Burgess stepped up to the plate and hit a single to right allowing Pickett and Cullinane to score. Murphy showcased her speed and scored on an errant throw while Burgess advanced to second on the same throw. Duchateau returned to the plate for her second time that inning, ripping a double to left field that allowed Burgess to come around and score.

            The top of the second inning, one Tiger would reach first, but Pickett shut down the next three batters. Offensively, the Lakers were quiet in their half of the second. The third inning saw Pickett sit down another three batters. 

            The bottom of the third inning started with a one-out infield single from Murphy, who stole second three pitches later. Burgess took a walk to put Lakers on first and second. Murphy and Burgess would complete a double steal and another walk from Duchateau would load the bases. Miller ripped a single to the center fielder, allowing Murphy and Burgess to score and an attempted throw would allow Duchateau and Miller to reach third and second. Christians came up to rip a double to right field, scoring two for the Lakers and bringing the score to 11-0. Larson stepped up to the plate and came up big with a two-run bomb. Pickett and Bode took walks and a two-out infield single from Murphy loaded the bases, but the three would be stranded. 

Kassidy Elkins came in to pitch for the Lakers in the top of the fourth, allowing one run to score on a single and double. The bottom of the fourth inning for the Lakers saw a leadoff single from Karlee Akers and a single from Miller. Christians stepped up and hit another double, scoring both Akers and Miller and bringing the Lakers lead to 14 runs. Larson would come up with her second hit of the game to score Christians. A passed ball during Brooklyn Bode's last at-bat would allow the final run to come across the plate for the Lakers. Elkins shut down the Tigers in the top of the fifth, allowing no runners to reach base.        

Macy Pickett threw a no-hitter during her 3.0 innings on the mound, striking out three. Elkins threw 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out one. Miller went 3-3, while DuChateau, Akers, and Burgess all went 1-1 in the game. Christians, Murphy, Cullinane, and Larson all added multiple hits for the Lakers. 

GAME 2: 11 (LLCC), 2 (MCC)   

            Marshalltown scored one in the first inning of game two. They took advantage of two Laker errors and a fielder's choice to push the first run of the game across. The Lakers came back hard in the bottom of the first, leading off with a DuChateau double. A walk from Miller and Larson would load the bases for the Lakers, while Cullinane took the third walk of the inning and allowed DuChateau to come across the plate. Akers would take a hit-by-pitch to push the second and final run of the inning to come across for the Lakers. Tayor Larson shut down the Tiger offense, sitting down three of three in the top of the second. 

            Burgess started the bottom of the second off with a bang, legging out a triple. DuChateau ripping a single to center field allowed Burgess to scamper home and DuChateau took advantage of a Marshalltown error by advancing to third. Christians took a walk to put Lakers on the corners and a ground-out RBI from Larson pushed DuChateau across. A two-out single from Cullinane kept the Lakers' spark alive, while Christians was able to scoot home and bring the score to 5-1. The Tigers fought back again in the top of the third, scoring one run on three singles.

            The next score of the game would come from the Lakers in the bottom of the fourth. DuChateau reached base on a single but advanced to third on an error from the Tigers. Another error from the Tigers allowed Miller to reach base and Duchateau to score. Christians took a walk to put two runners on. Larson stepped up to the plate, hitting a three-run home run, making that her second home run of the day. Cullinane restarted the Laker offense reaching second on a Tiger throwing error. Akers came up to hit a single and score one, bringing the score up to 10-2. Bode and Burgess each took walks to load the bases for the Lakers, and the final run for the Lakers would come from Miller taking a walk to push Akers across. Larson allowed no one to score in the top of the fifth, finishing the ball game with a final score of 11-2

            The Lakers combined for eight hits in the game, with Akers leading the offense going 2-2 with two RBIs. DuChateau went 3-4 in the game and Larson added four more RBIs to the Lakers stats. Larson threw the win for the Lakers, throwing 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs.

            The Lakers return to play this weekend to start their conference play against Des Moines Area Community College and Hawkeye Community College.