GALESBURG, ILL. – Four different Iowa Wesleyan College softball players hit home runs and the Tigers broke out of a win-one, lose-one stretch with a doubleheader sweep of Knox (Ill.) College Monday afternoon.
IWC defeated the Prairie Fire by scores of 7-1 and 12-2, with the second win coming in five innings. The Tigers swept two games in the same day for the first time since spring break and improved to 10-14 overall this season.
Kali Hills (So.-Fruitland, Iowa) hit a homer and Kara Harris (Sr.-Barry, Ill.) continued her hot hitting with three hits as Wesleyan rapped out 12 hits in the first game. Four other players had two hits apiece and Ashley Mysliwiec (Fr.-Antioch, Ill.) added two RBIs.
On the mound, Mallory Crane (Jr.-Des Moines, Iowa) went the distance and picked up her second win of the season. Crane allowed just four hits and one unearned run while striking out five.
The Tigers were even stronger in the second game, hammering 16 hits and three home runs in just five innings. Haleigh Hempen (Sr.-Hamilton, Ill.) hit a home run and was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, Hills had two more hits and three RBIs, and Leigha Strong (Jr.-Muscatine, Iowa) added a two-run homer and two hits.
Harris also had a two-run home run, her sixth of the season, and Mysliwiec, Lauren Konop (Fr.-Plano, Ill.) and Sarah Weber (Sr.-Danville, Iowa) all had two hits apiece as well. IWC scored 11 runs total over the third through fifth innings, including five in the fourth.
Trisha Stogdill (Sr.-Crawfordsville, Iowa) picked up the win with one earned run and four hits allowed in four innings. Brooke Iversen (Jr.-Earlville, Ill.) came on to finish the game and threw a scoreless fifth inning. Wesleyan gained the sweep after splitting each of its last five times it has taken to the diamond, including a 2-2 record this past weekend against Midwest Collegiate Conference opponents in the MCC Challenge.
The Tigers next will face Grand View University on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. A live audio broadcast will be available online at www.iwc.edu/onlinemedia.
For more information regarding the IWC softball program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score Game 1 IWC 7 Knox 1
Box score Game 2 IWC 12 Knox 2 (5 inn.)
