GREENVILLE, Ill. – Highlighted by a record-tying performance by first-year
Kayla Morrissey '18, the Grinnell College softball team gave Greenville College all it could handle before falling 9-8 Thursday in the opening game of a twin bill.
Morrissey (pictured at the left) tied a school record with four hits, joining several others, and belted the first home run of her collegiate career.
Andi Leff '18,
Sage Juveland '17 and
Kristina Weber '16 each added two hits, with Juveland, Morrissey,
Melissa Anderson '18,
Megan Gibson '17 and Weber each having doubles among their totals.
Anderson pitched a complete game.
Grinnell got on the board in the first on Morrissey's RBI double that plated Juveland, who had also doubled.
Greenville built a 6-1 lead with four runs in the first inning and two more in the third. The Pioneers scored twice in the fifth on RBI singles by Juveland and Morrissey.
After Greenville scored in the fifth, Grinnell tallied three runs in the sixth with the aid of RBI singles by Weber and Leff.
Grinnell grabbed the lead in the seventh with a two-run output as Morrissey bashed a solo homer, after which Anderson doubled and was knocked in by Gibson's double.
However, the hosts scratched out two runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the win.
In the second game, Greenville worked to a 10-5 victory.
Gibson had three hits, including a double, while Juveland added two hits and Morrissey a triple.
For the game, Grinnell managed 10 hits.
Greenville broke out to a 3-0 lead before Grinnell got a run in the second when Gibson scored on an error.
The hosts tallied two runs in the second for a 5-1 lead before Grinnell got a run back in the third when Gibson's double to left-center scored Juveland.
However, Greenville scored three runs in the fourth for an 8-2 edge.
The Pioneers tallied three runs in the fifth. Morrissey had an RBI triple to right-center, Gibson a run-scoring single to center and
Jordan Matosky '16 an RBI single to left.
Greenville, 7-4, tallied two runs in the bottom of the fifth to finish up the scoring.
Grinnell travels to Des Moines Saturday to face the American Institute of Business in a twin bill. The first game begins at 1 p.m.
