Marshalltown, IA—Heading deep into extra innings, the Marshalltown Community College softball team looked to its leading hitter, Lexie Biehl (Maquoketa, IA/Maquoketa) to deliver a game-changing hit as she has done all season. The freshman decided to end the game on her own with a walk-off home run to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory in nine innings over Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) opponent Southwestern Community College. MCC swept the Spartans with a 6-5 win in the nightcap.
Biehl drove a 2-1 pitch over the center field wall for her first career walk-off home run to give the Tigers their third straight conference victory. The freshman finished the game 3-5 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored to carry the load for the Tiger offense in the opener. Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa) pitched five innings of shutout relief to hold off the Spartans and pick up the win.
Gott came back in game two to toss six innings for her second win of the day as the Tigers held off a late rally from Southwestern. Shaiann Treu (Waianae, HI/Nankuli) went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored while Tacie Blunk (Boone, IA/Boone) recorded three RBI.
MCC (24-14/10-8) went hit-for-hit with the Spartans in the opener through the initial innings. Brooke Dunkin (Bussey, IA/Twin Cedars) scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the first to put MCC on the board. After three Southwestern runs in the top of the second, MCC responded with a two-spot of their own thanks to a pair of RBI-doubles from Biehl and Gott to tie the game at three apiece.
The Trojans regained the lead with a run in the third and two more in the fourth to go up 6-3. Biehl sparked the comeback with a two-run single up the middle in the sixth to bring MCC within one. Gott kept the opposing offense scoreless through the seventh and with the Tigers down one in their final at bat, Sarah Wilson (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) scored on a McKenna Hotopp (State Center, IA/West Marshall) groundout.
The two sides traded zeroes in the eighth, setting the stage for Biehl's dramatic walk-off in the bottom of the ninth. The freshman led off the inning and drilled her sixth home run of the year for the game-winner.
In game two, Blunk hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to score Wilson and put the Tigers up 1-0. The Trojans took the lead on two runs in the third, but a four-run bottom of the third put MCC back in front. Biehl smacked a line-drive double to center to score Treu and scored on the next at-bat. Blunk drove a pitch to right field and a costly Southwestern error scored two more MCC runs.
Treu singled in the bottom of the fifth to score Hotopp for a much-needed insurance run as the Trojans scored three in the sixth to get back within one. Wilson, this week's ICCAC Pitcher of the Week tossed a scoreless seventh for her first save of the season.
With the back-to-back doubleheader sweeps, the Tigers remain in fourth place in the league standings and are just two games behind third-place Des Moines Area Community College. The Tigers swept the season series with the Trojans, winning all four games.
The Tigers take on seventh-place North Iowa Area Community College at home on Friday for a double-header and host last-place Iowa Lakes Community College for two on Saturday.
