Marshalltown, IA—With two wins on Saturday afternoon against Iowa Lakes Community College, the Marshalltown Community College softball team set a program record with its 28th win of the year. The Tigers held off the Lakers for an 8-7 win in the opener and won game two 9-1 in five innings.
The Tigers (28-14/14-8) eclipsed the previous season-high in wins of 27 set by the 2008 team. The team's 14 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) wins are just one shy of the program's record, set in both 2013 and 2012. MCC has eight regular season games remaining on their schedule, including six conference games.
Tiger ace Sarah Wilson (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) got the nod in the circle for the Tigers to open play against the Lakers. The sophomore allowed just two hits and struck out four batters through the first four innings of play as the Tigers used timely hitting to take a 3-0 lead.
Tacie Blunk (Boone, IA/Boone) scored the team's first run in the second inning and a wild throw and Brooke Dunkin (Bussey, IA/Twin Cedars) drew a bases loaded walk to score Emmeline Huffaker (Baxter, IA/Baxter). Wilson scored on an error in the third to give herself some breathing room.
Blunk extended the lead to 5-0 with a two-run home run, her third of the season, scoring Wilson on the play. The Lakers cut the deficit to three with two runs in the top of the sixth, but the Tigers answered with three of their own in the bottom half of the inning, including a two-run double from Wilson. Iowa Lakes made things interesting with four runs in the seventh, but Wilson closed out the game to pick up her 14th win of the year.
Blunk finished the game 4-4 at the plate, tying her career-high for hits in a game while driving in two runs and scoring twice more. Huffaker was a perfect 3-3 at the dish for the Tigers. Wilson struck out six batters in the complete game.
Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa) continued to shine in the circle as the sophomore opened up game two without allowing a hit through 3.1 innings of work.
The Tiger offense scored four runs in the first inning as seven Tigers reached base. Blunk, Brianna James (Lynnville, IA/Lynnville-Sully), and McKenna Hotopp (State Center, IA/West Marshall) all drew bases loaded walks while Shaiann Treu (Waianae, HI/Nanakuli) delivered an RBI-single. Treu picked up another run-scoring single in the second to put MCC up 4-0.
Treu recorded her third RBI of the game with a bases loaded walk in the third. Wilson drove in Huffaker with a single to extend the lead and hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth for the team's final run.
Gott finished the game allowing just two hits while striking out eight batters. Dunkin, Lexie Biehl (Maquoketa, IA/Maquoketa), and Treu all had multi-hit games for the Tigers. Luana Zenklusen (Naters, Switzerland/Gymnasium Oberwil) scored her first run as a member of the Tigers.
The Tigers have now won 10 consecutive games and are just one game back of third-place Des Moines Area Community College in the league standings.
Eight sophomores were honored prior to the start of Saturday's games as a part of Sophomore Day- Whitney Baker (Nevada, IA/Nevada), Dunkin, James, Huffaker, Kyndal Milder (Columbus Junction, IA/Columbus), Wilson, Holli Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes), and Gott.
MCC will host Iowa Western Community College for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.
