APPLETON, Wis. – It wasn't the fourth of July, but the Grinnell College softball team put on plenty of fireworks in the opening game of its doubleheader with Lawrence University Saturday.
The Pioneers pounded out five doubles, one shy of the school record, and rolled up 13 hits while scoring a season-high run total in a 9-1 Midwest Conference victory. The hosts rallied to win the second game 3-2 despite getting outhit 10-7.
Kayla Morrissey '18 tied the school record with four hits in the opener, while
Lily Seibert '19 had a career-high three RBIs.
Mikyla Murphy '19 also knocked in three runs.
Murphy's RBI double to center in the first inning gave the Pioneers a lead they would never relinquish. They put up three more runs in the third inning as Morrissey had an RBI triple down the right-field line,
Maggie Remus '18 knocked in a run with a double to left center and
Andi Leff '18 plated a run with a double to center.
Lawrence got a run in the fourth, but the Pioneers put the game away with a five-run seventh inning. Murphy knocked in two runs with a single to right, while Seibert's two-bagger to left-center scored three more runs.
Melissa Anderson '18 was the winning pitcher, scattering six hits and striking out two in a complete-game effort.
Murphy had three hits in the second game for the Pioneers, including an RBI single to center in the top of the first. Lawrence answered with a run in the bottom of the inning and two more in the second for a 3-1 lead.
Grinnell's final run came in the third on Murphy's RBI double down the right-field line. Remus was the pitcher of record for Grinnell.
During the games, Morrissey moved up to second on Grinnell's career chart for RBIs with 63, third in triples with eight, ninth in doubles with 19 and 10th in runs with 56.
Lydia Stariha '17 ranks fourth in at-bats with 356 and
Sage Juveland '17 is eighth in runs with 59.
Grinnell is now 3-1 in the MWC and 5-11 overall, while the Vikings moved to 2-2 in the league and 11-9 overall. Grinnell plays at Lake Forest College Sunday in a twin bill. Action begins at 1 p.m.