GALESBURG, Ill. - The hits and runs came early and often as Grinnell College swept Knox College in softball action Wednesday and tied a school record in the process.
The Pioneers pounded out 35 hits on the day, including tying the school mark of 20 hits in the second game as Grinnell won by scores of 15-1 and 12-4 in the Midwest Conference twin bill. Grinnell is now 14-5 overall, the fifth-highest season win total in program history, and 3-1 in the league.
Kayla Morrissey '18 and
Mya Davis '21 swung the biggest bats for Grinnell, coming up with seven and six hits, respectively, in the games. Morrissey also broke the Grinnell career record for RBIs with 92, while
Melissa Anderson '18 tied career marks for pitching appearances (85) and games started (67).
Maggie Remus '18 tied the mark for career sacrifice flies with four.
Both Morrissey and Davis had three hits in the first game, while
Leila Bishop-Parise '21 and
Darice Wheeler '21 added two hits. Wheeler,
Flynn Johnson '21 and Davis all homered in the contest.
After a scoreless first inning, Grinnell erupted for seven runs in the second. Davis had a solo homer and Wheeler a two-run shot.
Ashley Wehrenberg '19 and Morrissey each had RBI singles and two more runs came across on an error.
The Pioneers added four more runs in the third, with Johnson belting a three-run homer and Bishop-Parise adding a run via an RBI single.
In the fourth, Grinnell put up four more runs as Davis hit a two-run double, Wheeler hit an RBI double and Remus lifted a sacrifice fly to left. Knox got its lone run in the fifth inning, after which the game was called via the mercy rule.
Anderson was the winning pitcher, giving up five hits and striking out one in a complete-game effort.
Morrissey put together a four-hit performance in the second game, tying a school record, while Johnson, Davis and Remus had three hits apiece and
Andi Leff '18 and Wehrenberg two each. Morrissey had a homer among her totals.
Grinnell scored twice in the first on Johnson's two-run double, but Knox rallied for a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning.
The Pioneers tied things at 3-all on Morrissey's RBI single in the second and took the lead for good in the third on Davis' RBI single. Leff hit an RBI double in the fifth and Remus plated a run with a single to make it 6-3. Knox put up a run in the bottom of the inning to come within 6-4.
The Pioneers tallied two more runs in the sixth on an RBI triple by Bishop-Parise and run-scoring single by Johnson. In the seventh, Morrissey belted a three-run homer and Johnson pushed across another run with a single.
Remus was the winning pitcher, striking out three and giving up eight hits while tossing a complete game.
With the losses, Knox fell to 4-13 overall and 0-4 in the league.
Several Pioneers moved up a number of school career top 10 lists. These include:
*Morrissey-sixth in games played (123) and home runs (5) and 10th in chances (434).
*Leff-fifth in games started (121) and at bats (364), sixth in RBIs (56) and 10th in runs scored (59).
*Remus-fourth in pitching appearances (68).
Grinnell is slated to play at Beloit College Saturday, but that could change due to predicted poor weather conditions.
