Ottumwa -- When you're in Iowa and you get to play at home the first full weekend in March that's a good thing. And when you get a sweep in your first home doubleheader of the spring that's a good thing too. Indian Hills took both games from State Fair (Mo.) on Saturday at R.L. Hellyer Field, winning 7-0 and 10-3 as the 13th-ranked Warriors improved their record to 10-6.
Brooke Snider and Peyton Moffett took care of the offense in the opener. Snider slammed two home runs -- her 8th and 9th -- and knocked in five runs and Moffett slugged a two-run homer to back the shutout pitching of Alexis Groet. Snider went 4-for-4 and Moffett 3-for-4 as part of IHCC's 13-hit attack. Chloe Olson and Nicole Bellis each had two hits and Macey Harrington and Abby Sweet one apiece. Groet recorded 16 strikeouts in her 5-hit shutout to raise her season record to 5-3. The 16 Ks are the second-highest total in Groet's career. She had 21 in a 10-inning performance against State Fair as a freshman. The righthander has 79 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched already this year.
Snider's two homers make her the career leader for Indian Hills. She has 36 early in her sophomore season, one more than Breon Michel had as a Warrior.
Game two saw freshman CJ Banner chalk up another double-digit strikeout effort, fanning 10 in a complete-game victory. Banner picked up strikeouts to end the first three innings and she singled home Anna Voigt for IHCC's first run in the 4th inning. After State Fair took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 5th, the Warriors plated four runs in each of the next two at-bats. A two-run single by Bellis tied the score in the 5th and a dropped fly ball allowed the Warriors to go on top, 5-3. Harrington and Brooke Tucker had two-run hits the next inning. Tucker had six RBIs and Snider and Harrington both scored twice. Banner permitted only one earned run on the way to her 3rd win.
The Warriors go back on the road next weekend, playing six games in three days in Bentonville, Arkansas as part of the Crowder Bash. They'll play a pair of games at State Fair later in March.