MASON CITY, IA - No. 12-rated Indian Hills collected wins No. 19 and 20 on the 2021 campaign with a pair of road victories over NIACC in Mason City Friday. IHCC held off the hosts 12-7 in the opener and ended the nightcap in just five innings of play, 13-4.
The Warriors (20-4 overall, 12-2 ICCAC) unleashed a 17-hit barrage in game one and followed up with a 19-hit bludgeoning of Trojan pitching.
The opener saw Indian Hills break open a 1-1 tie with an eight spot in the top of the fourth. The Warriors recorded six straight singles to start the frame and sprinkled in an Anna Voigt double and another single from Kaylee Bix with two outs to highlight the frame that ended with IHCC up, 9-1.
The visitors would tack on a run in the fifth to make it 10-1, but the Trojans got to IHCC starter Malarie Huseman for four runs in the bottom half after two walks and an error set the stage for Hailey Worman's grand slam to right to make it 10-5.
NIACC tagged Huseman with another bomb in the sixth from Laken Lienhard and plated another in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Warrior offense.
Huseman went the distance to notch her tenth win of the season against three losses. The Dubuque Hempstead product allowed seven runs and six earned runs while fanning seven. Huseman struggled with control as the Warrior righty walked eight.
Voigt led the IHCC offense with four hits, while Bryanna Mehaffy had three. Peyton Moffet, Hannah Poortinga, Alex Beard, and Bix all delivered a pair of hits. Beard and Voigt each had a double and Moffet laced a triple to left in the fifth.
Game two saw the run-rule enacted after the fifth as the relentless Warrior bats plated runs in every frame except the second to earn their 20th win on the season.
Sophomore slugger Chloe Olson went 4-for-4 with two runs scored while knocking in one. Nicole Bellis and Poortinga both went 3-for-4 at the plate with Bellis driving in four and Poortinga 2. Beard was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Mehaffy and Gretta Hartz each had a pair of hits. Maddy Findley, Moffet and Bellis all doubled for the Warriors.
Margot van Eijl (6-0) kept her ledger perfect in 2021 with a complete-game six-hit performance. The Warrior right hander struck out five and walked three. All four NIACC (5-9, 3-9) runs were earned.
The two teams square off for the second half of the four-game weekend set on Saturday with the doubleheader set for 1 p.m. at NIACC Field.
GAME ONE
Indian Hills 010 810 2 – 12 17 2
NIACC 001 041 1 – 7 7 7
WP – Malarie Huseman (10-3), LP – Laken Lienhard
(2B – Beard, Voigt; 3B – Moffet; RBI – Beard, Bellis 4, Bix 3, Hartz, Moffet, Olson, Voigt; HBP – Poortinga; SB – Ackerman, Hartz 2, Mehaffy)
GAME TWO
Indian Hills 305 14 – 13 19 0
NIACC 012 10 - 4 6 2
WP – Margot van Eijl (6-0), LP - Kayla Sproul
(2B – Bellis, Findley, Moffet; RBI – Beard 3, Bellis 4, Findley, Hartz 2, Olson, Poortinga 2; SAC – Hartz; SB – Hart, Hartz, Mehaffy)