Ottumwa, IA – A pair of big innings on both sides of Wednesday's doubleheader led Indian Hills Softball to a conference sweep of Southeastern Community College at R.L. Hellyer Field. The Warriors shut out the Blackhawks 5-0 in the opener and took game two 9-1 in six innings.
The Warriors remain undefeated in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) action with the two wins over the Blackhawks. Indian Hills moves to 37-7 overall on the year and 16-0 in league play. The Warriors have now won 13 games in a row and are 13-1 at home this season.
A first inning grand slam from freshman Julia Kwakernaak (The Hague, Netherlands/Segbroek College) was more than enough damage for the Warriors in the opener. Kwakernaak's seventh home run of the year put Indian Hills up 4-0 before a solo home run from Claire Tipton (Unionville, MO/Putnam County) extended the lead to 5-0 in the second inning.
While the offensive production slowed over the remainder of the contest, sophomore hurler Madie Anderson (Mt. Pleasant, IA/Winfield Mt. Union) held the Blackhawks in check with another strong outing in the circle. Anderson scattered just three hits while issuing one walk. The sophomore struck out eight batters to move to 14-3 on the year.
Freshman Eva Fulk (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) finished game one with a pair of hits and a run scored to go along with two stolen bases.
A pair of scoreless frames from both squads kicked off game two before the Warriors erupted for a six-spot in the bottom half of the third. Tipton delivered a two-run home run to spark the offense while Jenna Lemley (Troy Mills, IA/North Linn) and Carly Campbell (Homestead, IA/Williamsburg) each added run-scoring base hits.
Southeastern fought back with a run in the fourth, but sophomore All-American Destiny Lewis (Indianola, IA/Indianola) responded with a solo home run to push the lead to 7-1. A two-run single from Tatum Aragon (Fort Collins, CO/Fort Collins) closed the game in the sixth via run-rule.
Lewis, who finished game two 3-4 with the home run and a double became the school's all-time total bases leader with 358 bags for her career. The sophomore now owns two of the top-five single season home run totals, the career home run record, and the career runs record to now go along with the total bases mark.
Tipton and Kwakernaak each collected two hits in the ballgame for the Warriors. Freshman Abby Martin (Lamoni, IA/Lamoni) extended her team-high hitting streak to nine games while Tipton has now hit safely in 11 of the last 12 contests. Fulk has also connected on at least one hit in the team's last 14 outings.
Southpaw Ryann Cheek (Eldridge, IA/North Scott) produced another effective outing for the Warriors to improve to 8-2 overall in the circle. The sophomore struck out seven with just one earned run allowed. Cheek has allowed just two earned run over her last eight appearances, a stretch of 28.2 innings of work.
Indian Hills and Southeastern will wrap up their four-game set Thursday afternoon at R.L. Hellyer Field with an ICCAC doubleheader set to begin at 2:00 PM.
