GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's softball team made its 2018 home opener a memorable one, setting or tying six school records in a twin bill sweep of Simpson College Tuesday.
The Pioneers beat a team that had won 14 of its 18 games this season by scores of 13-5 in five innings and 8-6, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Storm dating back to 2005.
School records came from
Darice Wheeler '21, whose two-run homer in the second inning of the opener gave her seven for the year which is a new Pioneer best. That breaks the old mark of six set in 2010 by Amanda Stromquist.
Additionally, the Pioneers had four homers in the game to give them 15 for the season, also a new school record. That breaks the old mark of 13 established three years ago.
The four homers tie a school record for a game, and
Kayla Morrissey '18 tied school records with three doubles and four runs scored in the contest. Additionally, she built her career runs total to 85 to tie the school mark held by
Lydia Stariha.
Just as impressive, Grinnell put up 21 runs on a pitching staff that came in with an ERA of 2.03 and limited a squad hitting .408 to nearly 100 points under its average.
Wheeler was the winning pitcher in the first game, giving a complete-game effort while striking out four.
After Simpson scored twice in the top of the first, Grinnell exploded for five in the bottom of the inning as
Leila Bishop-Parise '21 hit an RBI single up the middle and
Emily Jordan '19 blasted a grand slam homer over the left-center field fence to score Bishop-Parise, Wheeler and
Flynn Johnson '21.
Grinnell tacked on three more runs in the second when
Ashley Wehrenberg '19 hit a solo homer to left-center and Wheeler later homered to left-center.
Simpson closed within 8-5 with two runs in the third inning and another in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Wheeler had an RBI single up the middle and Johnson hit a two-run homer to center.
The Pioneers scored two more runs in the fifth to win the game via the mercy rule. Morrissey's RBI double to right-center scored
Mikyla Murphy '19 and Johnson's single to right-center allowed Morrissey to score.
Simpson also scored two runs in the first inning of the nightcap, but Grinnell struck back with five runs in the second. Wehrenberg drew a bases-loaded walk, Morrissey scored two more runs with a double up the middle and Bishop-Parise drove in two with a single up the middle.
Grinnell added a run in the third on
Andi Leff's '18 single to right and scored two more in the sixth on Bishop-Parise's sacrifice fly to right and Wheeler's RBI single up the middle.
Simpson scored four times in the seventh before Grinnell shut the door.
Melissa Anderson '18 was the winning pitcher in relief, working four innings and striking out two.
Besides the school records, Morrissey also moved up Grinnell's career chart in three other categories. She is now third in at-bats with 372 and doubles with 26, and sixth in walks with 34.
The Pioneers travel to Pella Wednesday for games with nationally-ranked Central College. The first pitch is at 2 p.m.
