The Iowa Lakes Community College Softball team split the last day of their weekend with Hawkeye Community College. The Lakers took an 18-4 win in game one but fell short in game two losing 6-2. The Lakers come to 23-16 overall for the season and 3-7 in conference.
GAME 1: 18 (ILCC), 4 (HCC), 5 innings
The Lakers started hot in the first inning with Macy Pickett in the circle, sitting down the top three hitters in the Redtail's lineup. Kaitlyn DuChateau led off the bottom of the first with a double and a ground ball from Marrissa Miller advanced her the 60 feet to third. Korilynn Christians ripped a home run over the center field fence, taking an early 2-0 lead. Taylor Larson stepped up next with a home run of her own to give the Lakers another run. With one out and no runners on, Pickett doubled to continue the Lakers' rally. Karlee Akers singled to put runners on the corners and a walk from Brooklyn Bode loaded the bases with two outs. Abby Burgess came up big with a double to clear the bases and extend the Lakers' lead to six. DuChateu hit her second base hit of the inning, scoring Burgess from second. The fight didn't stop for the Lakers as Miller returned to the plate and singled with a bunt-for-a-hit. Miller tallied a stolen base before Christians took a walk to reload the bases. Larson singled with a ball up the middle to score two and Pickett reached on a Redtail error that scored the 11th and final run of the inning.
Hawkeye took two walks to lead off the top of the second but was shut down by Pickett who forced a pop-out for out one and struck out the next two.
Alexis Cullinane led off the bottom of the third with a double and another walk from Bode gave the Lakers two runners with no outs. DuChateau hit her third base hit of the game, which loaded the bases and Miller ripped a single to left field that scored two. Christians followed with a single to score another for the Lakers. A fielder's choice allowed another Laker to cross the plate, bringing the score to 15-0.
The Redtails fought back in the top of the third, scoring two on three singles and a sacrifice fly. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Bode ripped a home run to right center to start the Lakers' rally. Burgess continued the fight with a single followed by DuChateau hitting her fourth base hit to put two runners on. Miller singled up the middle to score another and the last run for the Lakers would come across on a two-out double from Christians to bring the score to 18-2. Hawkeye had a quiet top of the fourth with one runner reaching base, but being stranded there as the next three would be sat down by Laker defense.
Hawkeye tried to rally in the top of the fifth, but would only score two on a single, hit-by-pitch, and Laker error. Their fight would not be enough for the Lakers' bats.
Kaitlyn DuChateau and Korilynn Christians had perfect games at the plate, going 4-4 and 3-3 with a walk. Brooklyn Bode also went 1-1 with a home run and two walks. Six other Lakers tallied hits in the game to complete the 18-hit win. Macy Pickett earned the win in the circle, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing three hits, two runs, and four walks while striking out four. Kassidy Elkins threw the final 1.0 inning, allowing one hit and zero earned runs.
GAME 2: 2 (ILCC), 6 (HCC)
The Redtails came out hot in game two, scoring two in the top of the first on a double and three singles. Solid pitching for Hawkeye shut down the top three batters for the Lakers.
Hawkeye scored another two in the top of the second on a single and two doubles, extending their lead on the Lakers to four runs.
Larson had the first hit of the game for the Lakers in the bottom of the second, showcasing her speed to steal second and put herself in scoring position. A grounder allowed her to advance to third, but outs two and three came too quickly for the Lakers.
Larson shut down the Redtail offense, sitting down all three in the top of the third. Bode and Burgess both laid down bunts to single with no outs and put runners on first and second. The next two Lakers were overpowered by Hawkeye's pitching and the third out coming too soon stranded the two where they were. A home run in the top of the fourth brought the Redtails to a five-run lead, but the defense shut down the next batters up.
Hawkeye took advantage of a Laker error in the top of the fifth to score one more. The Laker's offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth, starting with a two-out walk from Burgess. She stole second and a bunt-for-a-hit from DuChateau allowed Burgess to scurry home.
The bottom of the sixth saw a leadoff single from Christians followed by a single from Larson. A Hawkeye error allowed Christians to score from second and advance Larson to second. Christians would be the final run for the Lakers, bringing the final score to 6-2.
Taylor Larson led the offense in game two, going 2-3 at the plate. DuChateau, Christians, Bode, and Burgess each tallied one hit for the Lakers. Morgan Fine took the loss for the Lakers in the circle, throwing 1.1 innings, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out one. Larson also threw in the contest, throwing 3.2 innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out three. Pickett threw the remaining 2.0 innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out one.
The Lakers return to play this Wednesday as they travel to Northeast Community College for games at 2 and 4 pm.