LA CROSSE, WIS. – Ashley Mysliwiec (Fr.-Antioch, Ill.) hit two home runs, including the game-winner in the 10th inning and Ayla Serrano (Fr.-Rock Island, Ill.) pitched a 10-inning complete game as Iowa Wesleyan College won the first game of a softball doubleheader against Viterbo (Wis.) University Tuesday afternoon.
The two freshmen led IWC to a 3-1 win in the first game of a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader against the V-Hawks at the Viterbo Outdoor Athletics Complex. Viterbo came back with an 8-1 win in the second game, earning a split of the twinbill.
Serrano won a pitching duel in the first game, outlasting the V-Hawks’ Bethanee Nitz and allowing just two hits while striking out 12 in ten innings. Nitz allowed just seven hits in a complete game herself, and the two pitchers both held their opponents for the game’s first five innings.
Mysliwiec broke the ice by hitting a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning, and the run looked destined to hold up to the end. Serrano pitched a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings, allowing only a single walk before the bottom of the seventh. That’s when Viterbo’s Betsy Ward reached on a two-out walk, and Jenna Strait followed with a double into the gap to score Ward and tie the game.
The game went to extra innings, and the V-Hawks had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth, putting a runners at second and third with one out, but Serrano worked out of the jam to send the game to a 10th frame. Serrano then doubled with two out in the 10th, and Mysliwiec followed her with a two-run homer to left center to give IWC the lead. Serrano then finished the game in the bottom of the inning, retiring three straight to close it out for her ninth win this year.
Kali Hills (So.-Fruitland, Iowa) also had two hits in the first game, joining Serrano and Mysliwiec with two hits each. Mysliwiec’s home run also set a new school single season record, as it was the 42nd this year hit by the Tigers. The previous record was 41 hit in a season, set in 2007.
The Tigers could not carry the momentum over to the second game, missing too many opportunities early before Viterbo started to pound Tiger pitching. The V-Hawks posted 14 hits in the nightcap, including five players with multiple hits.
Sarah McCleary (So.-Elgin, Ill.) drove in the lone run for Wesleyan with a double to score Allie Roberts (Jr.-Marshalltown, Iowa) in the second inning. The Tigers stranded seven runners over the first four innings, though, and the V-Hawks opened it up in the latter stages with a run in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
Serrano and Haleigh Hempen (Sr.-Hamilton, Ill.) both had two hits to lead IWC at the plate in the second game. The Tigers come out of the doubleheader with a 17-29 overall record, 7-10 in the MCC. Viterbo is now 7-27 overall, 3-15 in conference.
Wesleyan next will play in the second MCC Challenge event this weekend in Moline, Ill. The Tigers will play four games and also will finish a suspended game from earlier in the season against Waldorf College.
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 3 Viterbo 1 (10 inn.)
Box score Game 2 Viterbo 8 IWC 1
