Tigers scratch out split

LA CROSSE, WIS. ? Hits were few and far between for the Iowa Wesleyan College softball team, but the Tigers manufactured enough offense to split a doubleheader against Viterbo (Wis.) University Tuesday afternoon at the Viterbo Outdoor Athletic Complex.

The Tigers and V-Hawks played a pair of low-scoring games, with Viterbo winning the opener 3-1 before IWC bounced back for a 3-2 win in the second game. The two teams remained tied in the Midwest Collegiate Conference standings, ending the day at 4-8 in league play.

Pitching was dominant in both games, as Wesleyan recorded just six hits over the doubleheader and Viterbo wasn?t much more successful with 10 hits. The Tigers scored just one run off of a base hit but scraped together enough offense to win the second game and nearly the first as well.

IWC (16-23 overall) led the opener 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, scoring its only run on a double steal in the fifth in which Ashley Mysliwiec stole home. But the V-Hawks (6-18 overall) homered twice in the sixth, getting a solo homer from Maddy Podmolik to tie it and then a two-out, two-run home run by Jenna Smith off Sierrah Garcia, who struck out 11 but took the loss.

The Tigers rebounded with two quick runs in the first inning of the second game as Mikayla Dwyer singled to score Tory Beaver and Kristine Becks scored after Mysliwiec reached on an error.

Wesleyan never trailed in the second game. The V-Hawks got a run to make it 2-1 in the second, but IWC came back with a single run in the fifth: Jill Ginder stole home while Beaver got caught in a pickle trying to steal second. Viterbo scored one more run in the sixth, but Jillian Leutscher stranded the bases loaded and then set down the side in order in the seventh for a complete game win. Leutscher overcame a shaky start to win while allowing five hits and one earned run, striking out four and walking five.

The Tigers now get ready for the second MCC Challenge event, to be held this weekend in Morrison, Ill. IWC opens against Waldorf College at 11 a.m. on Saturday.