Runs flow in IW softball split

MT. PLEASANT — The Iowa Wesleyan softball team hosted a rare home doubleheader on Wednesday. In just their third completed home event of the year, the Tigers beat up on Viterbo 15-7 in Game 1, lost Game 2, 7-5 in extra innings.

The bats were rattling right away in Game 1. The Tigers scored two or more runs in all six of their at bats, piling on runs all game long.

“In Game 1, we scored a lot of runs, but we gave up some runs,” said Iowa Wesleyan coach Mike Hampton. “We had to keep scoring.”

Iowa Wesleyan had five batters finish with multiple hits. Ivy Geerdes had a tremendous outing, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Haiden Molter went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in the win. Kara Krieger was 3-for-4 with a triple and four runs scored. Kylie Topliff was 2-for-5 with an RBI, Nicole Shirrell was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Abby Dameron picked up the win in the circle in Game 1. Dameron gave up five runs (three earned) on four hits through 3.2 innings.

Ariana Wolfard stepped into the circle in Game 2, and pitched a nice game, but some shaky defense set up a three-run Viterbo home run in the third inning, and the Tigers had to battle back from a 3-0 deficit.

Iowa Wesleyan was down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but began to scrap back. The Tigers put up two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh when Molter knocked in Topliff to tie the game.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the defense couldn’t hold in extra innings. Viterbo scored three in the top of the eighth to run away with the game. The Tigers pushed one in on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half, but that’s all they would get.

The Tiger defense had a tough time in both games. Iowa Wesleyan committed four errors in Game 1, and four more in Game 2.

“We made some young mistakes again,” Hampton said. “That hurt us a little bit.”

J Lantz led the Iowa Wesleyan offense in Game 2, going 2-for-3 with twou doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Topliff was 2-for-5 with a run scored.

The Tiger softball team is now 7-26 overall. Iowa Wesleyan will close out the home schedule on Friday with a doubleheader at Lincoln College, before finishing the season at Hannibal-LaGrange University on Saturday.