Council Bluffs, IA – The Indian Hills Softball team swept Iowa Western Community College in the team's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) doubleheader on Saturday. The Warriors took game one 5-4 before knocking off the Reivers in extra innings in the nightcap.
The Warriors move to 12-12 overall on the year and 2-0 in league play after taking both ends of Saturday's doubleheader in Council Bluffs. Freshman Mary-Paige Withers (Le Claire, IA/Pleasant Valley) delivered the signature hit of the day, an extra inning home run in game two to complete the afternoon sweep. Indian Hills has now won five of its last six contests.
Timely hitting coupled with a trio of strong outings in the circle carried the Warriors to the ICCAC sweep. Indian Hills tallied 18 total hits on the day, including 10 in the opening game victory.
The Warriors opened the afternoon trading runs in the first inning of game one with the Reivers as freshman Cassandra Benberg (Green Bay, WI/Pulaski) delivered a RBI single in the top half of the first. The conference opener remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the sixth when Withers sparked a three-run inning. The freshman single to score a pair of runs while Courtney Locke (Bow, WA/Burlington-Edison) added a sacrifice fly. Chandler Houselog (Dubuque, IA/Dubuque Hempstead) tacked on an insurance run in the seventh with a run-scoring single.
Sophomore Ashlynn Sheets (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) went the distance in the circle as the southpaw induced a game-ending double play in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
Benberg finished the opener with a season-high three hits while sophomore Ava Smith (Waukee, IA/Waukee Northwest) tallied a pair of knocks. Sheets picked up her sixth win of the year, tied for the most in the ICCAC this year, striking out five Reivers along the way.
Game two saw the Reivers strike first with a pair of runs in each of the first two frames. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Smith delivered a two-run home run, her third of the year, to even the contest.
Iowa Western regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third before sophomore Peyton Raley (Arvada, CO/Arvada West) took advantage of a wild pitch to once again even the game.
Sophomore Jordyn Beck (Marion, IA/Linn-Mar) relieved starter Alivia Ruble (Lacona, IA/Southeast Warren) in the fifth inning and kept the Reiver offense at bay. The two sides went scoreless over the final two innings to force an extra frame, the Warriors' first extra inning affair of the year.
With one out in the top of the eighth, Withers sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to break the deadlock and put Indian Hills on top 4-3. Beck retired the first two Reivers in the bottom of the eighth before stranding a runner to close out the game two victory.
Raley led the offense with three hits in the win while Smith delivered two more base hits for the Warriors. Smith as now hit safely in eight consecutive games, boasting a .600 batting average during the stretch. Smith's team-leading .471 average currently ranks third in the ICCAC this year.
Ruble and Beck carried the Warriors in the circle. Ruble allowed just one earned run in four innings of work while Beck tossed four shutout innings of relief work to earn her first victory of the season.
Indian Hills returns to ICCAC action Monday afternoon with a doubleheader at Southwestern Community College in Creston, IA. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM.
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