Fort Dodge, IA—The Marshalltown Community College softball team defeated Ellsworth Community College 7-1 in its opening game of the Region XI Division II Softball Tournament on Friday, but fell to top-seeded Kirkwood Community College 3-0. The Tigers will face seventh-seeded North Iowa Area Community College at 1:00 PM tomorrow in the double-elimination tournament.
Entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed, the team's highest tournament seed in program history, MCC squared off against the Panthers. Both sides went scoreless through the first two frames as starting pitcher Sarah Wilson (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) was able to get out of multiple bases-loaded jams to keep the scoreboard empty.
The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a leadoff double from Lexie Biehl (Maquoketa, IA/Maquoketa). The hot-hitting freshman came around to score on a Mackenzie Gott (Oskaloosa, IA/Oskaloosa) single. Holli Baker (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) ripped a double to bring in Gott for the 2-0 lead.
Home runs took care of the rest of the scoring for the Tigers. Brianna James (Lynnville, IA/Lynnville-Sully) belted a leadoff shot in the fourth to build on the lead. In the next inning, McKenna Hotopp (State Center, IA/West Marshall) delivered a two-run shot and James went back-to-back for her second long ball of the afternoon. Tacie Blunk (Boone, IA/Boone) finished off the scoring with a home run to center.
Blunk and James each went 3-3 in the opening victory as the Tigers collected 10 hits overall. Wilson tossed three scoreless innings while Gott picked up the win with four innings of relief action.
After Kirkwood picked up a 10-2 win over eighth-seeded Iowa Lakes in its opening round game, the two teams met under the lights. Baker made her first start in the circle since March 29 and despite two runs in the first innings, the sophomore held the Eagles in check for a majority of the game.
The Tigers had their chances offensively, but left multiple runners stranded, including two in the third inning and two more in the sixth. Brooke Dunkin (Bussey, IA/Twin Cedars) led the four-hit attack for the Tigers with two knocks.
MCC and NIACC will meet in Saturday's elimination game. The winner of the matchup will face the winner of No. 2 seed Iowa Central Community College and Ellsworth at 3:00 PM.
Live stats will be available for all MCC games.
