Season begins for IW women

MYRTLE BEACH, SC. - The Iowa Wesleyan softball team went 1-1 in its season-opening doubleheader in South Carolina on Sunday morning. The Tigers shut down Medaille College 2-0 in the season opener and fell 10-4 against Gettysburg College later that day.

It was a pitcher's dual in game one, and Tiger ace Morgan Christner picked up right where she left off in 2019 with a two-hit shutout. Christner struck out 12 batters, stifling the Medialle College lineup and allowing the offense time to manufacture a couple of runs of their own.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Allison Daum led the inning off with the single. She was sacrificed over by Ashley Pfadenhauer and singled in by Taylor Johnson to put the Tigers on top, 1-0.

In the sixth inning, IW capitalized on a one-out bases-empty triple by Pfadenhauer. It was Johnson again who picked up the RBI, plating pinch-runner Nadia Howell to make it 2-0.

Johnson went 2-3 with two RBIs to lead the team. Pfadenhauer was 1-2 with a triple, the team's only extra base hit, and a run scored. Howell scored one run.

Kylie Topliff had a stolen base in the game for IW. Sacrifice hits went to both Pfadenhauer and Emilee Rooney.

Christner hit exactly 100 pitches in her complete-game victory. She walked just two batters.

IW was upended by six runs in their second game, against Gettysburg College. Stats for that game were not yet available at press time.