MASON CITY, Iowa –NIACC softball came close to getting that first conference win on Wednesday, but lost a doubleheader to Iowa Lakes, 8-0 in five innings and 4-3 in seven.
NIACC softball (10-22, 0-18 in ICCAC) had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh during game two, but Iowa Lakes pitcher Taylor Burmeister was able to force Hailey Eckstein (Fr., Larsen, WI) to pop out to first base to complete the sweep.
The Trojans outhit the Lakers (8-20, 7-11 in ICCAC) in game two, 7-4, but had problems shaking off a trend of sending only four batters to the plate per inning. Out of the 12 innings played over both games, NIACC had four only at bats nine times.
Eckstein and Cassie Pappas (Fr., Mason City, IA) both hit solo homeruns in game two. Eckstein hit hers in the fourth inning to make it 3-2, and Pappas hit hers two innings later to make it 4-3. Pappas was two-for-three for game two.
Trojan pitcher Jessica Robinett (Fr., Maxwell, IA) had another solid day pitching, only giving up four hits in the second game and not allowing a hit in game’s last four innings. She dropped to 6-10 this season.
For the series, Caley Johnson (Fr., Maxwell, IA) had the most hits in the games with three. She had two hits in game one.
For Iowa Lakes, Michelle Thille was a thorn in NIACC’s side, especially in game two. She was 3-for-3 for the day with four walks and five runs scored. Three of those runs came in game two.
Iowa Lakes had more runs than hits in game one, but still managed to end the game in five innings. The Lakers took advantage of six walks off of Eckstein (4-12), got a three-run homerun from catcher Laura Holm in the fourth and a two-run homerun by second baseman Sarah Christopher in the fifth to put the Trojans away.
NIACC only had one runner reach third base in the opener.
After a quick two-run first inning for the Lakers, NIACC started to put together scoring opportunities against Christopher in game two. Anne Studer (Fr., Titonka, IA) hit a triple down the right field line to give the Trojan offense a start. She scored on the next at-bat during a Courtney Stephens (Fr., LeGrand, IA) ground out to make it 2-1.
Iowa Lakes responded with a double by Morgan Zollner that scored Thille in the third inning to make it 3-1. It was the Lakers final hit of the night.
After Eckstein’s homer in the fourth, NIACC gave one back in the fifth on a Holm pop-up to short. The ball bounced out of Eckstein’s glove and Thille, who walked two batters earlier and advanced to second base on a groundout, ran out the play to score.
Pappas’ leadoff homer to start the sixth cut the lead to 4-3, and NIACC tried to put together a run in the seventh. With one out, Johnson singled and Beth Mildenhall (Fr., Eldora, IA) reached on an error at second base. Krista Grutz (Fr., Dubuque, IA) struck out and Pappas walked to load the bases for Eckstein.
Iowa Lakes pitcher Taylor Burmeister got ahead with two strikes against Eckstein before forcing Eckstein to fly out to first baseman Amber Holmgren to end the game and doubleheader.
NIACC was scheduled to play at Southwestern in Creston on Saturday and at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, but the Southwestern games may not be played after tornado damage that happened on-campus during last week’s storms in southern Iowa.
GAME ONE STATS
ILCC 210 32 – 8 6 0
NIACC 000 00 – 0 5 0
Iowa Lakes stats
Taylor Burmeister (6-11)(3K, 1 BB) and Laura Holm
2B – Michelle Thille
HR – Holm, and Sarah Christopher
Multiple hits – Thille 2
Multiple RBI – Holm 3, Christopher 2
NIACC stats
NIACC Hailey Eckstein (1 K, 6 BB, 1HB) and Lisa Jorgensen
Multiple hits – Caley Johnson 2
GAME TWO STATS
ILCC 201 010 0 – 4 4 1
NIACC 010 101 0 – 3 7 2
Iowa Lakes stats
Sarah Christopher (2-8)(2 K, 0 BB), Burmeister (6) (2 K, 2 BB, Save) and Holm
2B – Thille, Morgan Zollner
Multiple hits – Zollner 2
Multiple RBI – Burmeister 2
NIACC stats
Jessica Robinett (3 K, 5 BB) (6-10) and Pappas
2B – Beth Mildenhall, Lisa Jorgensen,
3B – Anne Studer
HR – Eckstein, Pappas
Multiple hits – Pappas 2
