BELOIT, Wis. – A milestone season came to a fitting close for the Grinnell College softball team Friday against Beloit College.
The Pioneers bounced back from an opening-game loss in the twin bill to earn an 8-2 victory in their season finale.
The win completes Grinnell's season with a 16-19 record, the most victories for the Pioneers since winning 23 games in 2006. Grinnell finished MWC play at 8-12, matching the most wins for the program since the 2006 squad won eight.
Additionally,
Lydia Stariha added to her season record-breaking performance. Already having set the record this season for runs scored, she improved that total from 29 to 31. She also set a new standard for at bats with 125, breaking her mark of 121 set in 2015.
Kayla Morrissey tied the season record for runs with 29 to equal Darcy Ward's total from 2007.
Morrissey had a triple in the second-game victory and Stariha a double.
Each team scored one run in the first inning, with Grinnell's coming on a passed ball.
The Pioneers broke the game open in the third inning with a four-run output for a 5-1 lead.
Sage Juveland plated two runs with a single to right, Morrissey scored on a wild pitch and
Emily Jordan knocked in a run with a single down the left-field line.
After Beloit cut the gap to 5-2 in the bottom of the third, the Pioneers erupted for three runs in the fourth as Morrissey belted a two-run triple to right field and Juveland had an RBI single up the middle.
Maggie Remus was the winning pitcher, scattering nine hits and fanning two batters in a complete-game effort.
Earlier in the night, Beloit used a big comeback to earn a 7-6 victory over the Pioneers.
Grinnell managed six hits in the game, including two by
Melissa Anderson. She and Juveland each had doubles among their totals.
Grinnell shot out to a 6-0 lead with four runs in the second inning, another in the third and one more in the fifth.
Jordan had an RBI single to left in the second and moved around the bases on a single by Anderson and an error. Anderson later scored on a passed ball and Stariha on an error.
In the third,
Andi Leff pushed in a run with a bases-loaded walk. Anderson added an RBI double to right in the fifth inning to make it 6-0.
However, Beloit answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and won it with five in the seventh.
Remus was the pitcher of record for Grinnell.
