Fairfield snaps Mt. Pleasant softball's winning streak

Taylor Neil hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the hits became contagious for Fairfield in game one of Thursday's doubleheader with Mt. Pleasant.

Neil?s RBI was the final swing of a rally to win game one, 5-4, and the Trojans (13-13, 5-5 SEC) rolled right into the nightcap to win 14-2 in four innings.

?We?ve been on a bit of a losing streak, and it was great to get those wins the way we did,? said Fairfield head coach Bob Bradfield. ?To come back and win the first one, and then to turn around in the second game like we did made it a perfect evening.?

Fairfield was just one night removed from being blown out by Keokuk that stretched its losing streak to six games, but Thursday?s wins completed a season sweep of rival Mt. Pleasant (11-14, 1-9). The two teams are slated to meet again to open Class 3A regional play July 9 in Fairfield.

The Panthers opened up a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first inning to begin the night, and held onto the lead until the bottom of the sixth. Mackenzie McClure drove in Brittany Craff to tie the game before Sydney Burnett?s sac fly four batters later put the Trojans up 4-3.

Sami Goble came through for Mt. Pleasant to tie the game in the top of the seventh, but once again, Fairfield had an answer. The Trojans loaded up the bases for Neil to send the winning run home.

?I?ve told them before that we can?t just sit on anything. Especially when we come out hitting in the first inning, we can?t just sit on the runs,? said Mt. Pleasant head coach Angie Rodgers. ?There are seven innings ? a lot of game left. They?ll learn at some point.?

The loss halted a five-game Mt. Pleasant win streak.

Haley Grunwald was the winning pitcher for Fairfield going all seven innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits. Goble struck out seven in the losing effort for the Panthers.

In the nightcap, Mt. Pleasant took another early lead, but this time, Fairfield didn?t stew around. The Trojans started hitting, scored eight runs with two outs as part of a nine-run second and never slowed down.

?Once we started to hit, it seemed like everybody joined in,? said Bradfield. ?We?ve had some girls in slumps, but almost everyone in the lineup contributed somewhere.?

Neil stayed hot going 2-3 with a double and an RBI, Tori Ogden finished 2-3 with four RBIs in the cleanup spot, Ashley Manning was 2-3 with three more RBIs and Brittany Craff drove in two. Ogden?s RBI single with one out in the bottom of the fourth ended the game.

Mackenzie McClure was the winning pitcher for the Trojans going all four innings and striking out one. Mandi White lasted 1 2/3 innings for the Panthers before being relieved by Jena Stukerjurgen.

With the victories, Fairfield climbs back .500 at 13-13 and now gets set for a trip to the competitive Clear Creek-Amana Tournament this weekend. Mt. Pleasant travels to Burlington tonight for a varsity doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. before hosting the Mt. Pleasant Classic on Saturday afternoon.