Ottumwa, IA – Destiny Lewis' (Indianola, IA/Indianola) three-run walk-off home run powered the Indian Hills Softball team to an afternoon split with Kirkwood Community College on Monday at R.L. Hellyer Field. The Warriors move to 25-7 on the year.
Trailing by a run in the nightcap of Monday's twinbill, Lewis sent a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall to help the Warriors salvage the non-conference split vs. the Eagles with a 6-4 win. The home run was Lewis' team-leading 14th of the year which extended her Indian Hills school record career total to 45.
WARRIOR WIN����
— GoHillsTV (@GoHillsTv) April 10, 2023
Destiny Lewis with a walk-off homerun to end game 2, final score 6-4! pic.twitter.com/PVBxCg138s
The Warriors dropped the opener 4-2 despite a dominant performance in the circle from sophomore Madie Anderson (Mt. Pleasant, IA/Winfield Mt. Union). Anderson struck out a career-high 16 batters, the most since Alexis Groet sat down 16 batters on March 7, 2020 for the Warriors.
On the day, the Warriors collected 15 total hits, including four home runs from four different individuals. Along with Anderson's efforts in the circle in game one, the Warrior pitching staff struck out an additional 10 batters in the nightcap, led by Ryann Cheek's (Eldridge, IA/North Scott) nine punchouts.
Kirkwood owned the first runs of the opener as the Eagles used a two-run home run in the third inning for the early advantage. A solo home run from Claire Tipton (Unionvile, MO/Putnam County), the freshman's fourth of the year, cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third.
Anderson, who tallied the first nine outs of the game by way of strikeout, held the Eagles scoreless over the next three frames to keep the Warriors within striking distance. In the bottom half of the sixth, Tatum Aragon (Fort Collins, CO/Fort Collins) delivered an RBI single to score Lewis for the equalizer.
Anderson's masterpiece in the circle came up short as a late two-run home run in the top half of the seventh propelled Kirkwood to the thrilling win at R.L. Hellyer Field.
In game two, the Warriors claimed the initial lead behind a solo home run from freshman Hannah Simpson (Fairfield, IA/Fairfield) in the second inning. Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) added a two-out RBI single three batters later to double the lead for the Warriors. Aragon tacked on another run with a solo home run to deep right field in the bottom of the fourth to push the advantage to 3-0 in favor of the Warriors.
The Eagles, who recorded just two hits through five innings, chipped away at the deficit in the sixth with three runs of their own to tie the game. A run in the top of the seventh gave the visiting team their first lead of the game, 4-3.
A pair of errors in the bottom of the seventh allowed the Warriors to put the game-winning run on the basepath. With two outs on the scoreboard, Lewis stepped to the plate and closed the game in dramatic fashion with the three-run walk-off home run.
Lewis has now homered in five of the team's last six contests and leads the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) with the 14 home runs this year.
Cheek went 5.1 innings in the circle with the nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Thea Banning (Winterset, IA/Winterset) worked a scoreless seventh inning to earn the win in relief, the freshman's fifth victory of the year.
The Warriors' homestand continues with an ICCAC doubleheader vs. league foe Iowa Western Community College on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors and Reivers will square off at 2:00 PM at R.L. Hellyer Field.
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WARRIORS WALK IT OFF! No. 20-rated @WarriorSoftball earned a split of today's doubleheader with @KCC_SB as @destlewis7 uncorked her 14th homer of the season to drive in three with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Warriors a 6-4 win in the nightcap. (cont.) pic.twitter.com/GA1bNW31th
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) April 10, 2023
