Tourney bound: IW softball makes history

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's softball tournament field is set, and although there was some doubt coming into the weekend's games, Iowa Wesleyan pulled off three wins in four tries to sneak into the field of four.

The Tigers split games on Saturday against then first-place Spalding, winning 8-1 before falling 17-0. IW needed two wins on Sunday against Blackburn, and they got them, winning exciting games 4-3 and 3-2.

The festivities began on Saturday morning, and game one against Spalding was tight all the way through. After four innings the score was tied at 1-1, with the only IW run being a solo homer by Allison Daum in the second frame.

The Tigers broke things open in the fifth. Kayla Ford made it 2-1 with a solo shot of her own. Alex Eyman brought a runner home on an RBI single, and Daum sent a three-run homer to left for the biggest swing of the day. After the dust had settled, IW held a comfortable 6-1 lead.

The Tigers poured on a couple of runs in the sixth inning. Emma McDanel hit an RBI single, and starting pitcher Morgan Christner helped herself out with a sacrifice fly.

Christner dominated the Spalding lineup. She through a complete-game seven innings and gave up just one earned run on one hit and three walks, while striking out 13 batters.

Ashley Machholz was red-hot at the plate in game one. She went 3-4 with two runs scored. Daum finished 2-4 with a couple of dingers, four RBIs and two runs scored.

Game two was scoreless through two innings, but things eventually went south for the Tiger defense. Spalding scored runs in the third, three in the fifth and a whopping 12 in the sixth, capitalizing on five IW errors to best the Tigers in a 17-0 route.

The blowout loss put the Tigers in a tough situation on Sunday. They needed to bounce back from the defeat and win at least one game, probably two, the very next day.

'The only thing I said was, ‘it only counts as one loss,” head coach Mike Hampton. 'Think of it that way, and be ready to play (Sunday).'”

The Tigers were certainly ready to play Sunday, but Blackburn was looking to play spoiler, and they gave IW two nail-biters.

Blackburn led 2-0 after 2.5 innings in game one, but a hungry Tiger offense game clawing back. Machholz had an RBI single in the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1, and in the fourth, Ford gave IW the lead with a two-RBI double to the fece in left-center field. After four innings, the Tigers led 3-2.

Blackburn tied the game up in the fifth inning and the next three frames were scoreless, setting up a tense eighth inning. Christner stranded a runner on third in the top of the eighth inning, and it was time for IW to walk it off in the bottom half.

With Christner on second and nobody out, Eyman came through. She sent a single to center field, and the ball was bobbled by the Beaver outfielder, giving Christner enough time to scamper home for the win.

Daum stayed hot in game one on Sunday, going 3-3 with a run scored. Ford finished 2-4 with two RBIs.

Christner gave up three earned runs on nine hits and no walks in game one, also striking out nine Beavers to earn the win.

Blackburn once again led 2-0 in game two, even into the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers took advantage of a couple of big Beaver mistakes in the bottom of the inning to steal the win. Christner scored two runs on a two-out fly ball that was dropped by the left fielder to tie the game. A couple batters later, McKenna Woolery knocked in Christner after the Blackburn shortstop botched a ground ball.

Spalding put two runners on in the top of the seventh, but couldn't plate either of them. Emmy Rodruigez made the final out in right field to seal the victory, and a SLIAC tournament berth.

'It's a fantastic thing for not only these young ladies, but for the institution, and for the community,” Hampton said after Sunday's games. 'We know good things are going to still happen, and this was a big lift.”

IW was led offensively by Ford in game two on Sunday. She went 3-3 with a run scored. Christner picked up her third win of the weekend, giving up just two earned runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out 10 batters.

The Tigers will travel to Westmister, Mo. later this week for the SLIAC tournament, which runs from May 2-4.