MONMOUTH, Ill. - After suffering a tough loss in the opener of a doubleheader Thursday, the Grinnell College softball team bounced back in a big way by defeating Monmouth College 6-3 behind a 10-hit attack.

The split was key for Grinnell in the Midwest Conference standings, as the Pioneers are off to their best start ever in league play with a 6-2 mark while improving to 17-6 overall.

Additionally, Kayla Morrissey '18 tied Grinnell's career record for at-bats with 418 and is the new leader in games started with 127. Darice Wheeler '21 is also Grinnell's season leader in total bases with 84 and RBIs with 40.

Wheeler tied the school record for hits in a game in the win by going 4-for-4 with a double. Morrissey went 3-for-4, while Maggie Remus '18 doubled.

Team-wise, Grinnell set the new school mark for runs scored in a season with 179 and padded its first-place standing in RBIs with 172. 

Wheeler earned the pitching win, giving up nine hits and striking out eight to improve to 7-2.

Grinnell took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Wheeler's RBI single that plated Morrissey. Monmouth tied it in the third, but Grinnell went ahead again in the fourth when Morrissey singled in Remus.

After the Fighting Scots tied it in the bottom of the fourth, Grinnell went ahead to stay in the fifth when Remus' double scored Lily Seibert '19. In the sixth, Ashley Wehrenberg '19 scored on an error and Wheeler's two-run double scored Leila Bishop-Parise '21 and Morrissey.

Monmouth, 4-4 in the league and 15-11, finished off the scoring with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

The Fighting Scots rallied from a 1-0 deficit to win the opener 5-1. Grinnell managed three hits, including an RBI double by Wheeler in the first that scored Morrissey.

Wheeler suffered the pitching loss and struck out three.

Morrissey now ranks second for Grinnell in career games played with 127, while Andi Leff '18 moved up to third in games started and fourth in games played with 125. Additionally, Remus is now seventh in career putouts with 324.

On the season leader board, Wheeler ranks second in doubles with 12 and sixth in pitching wins with seven. Morrissey is fourth in total bases with 64 and hits with 42. As a team, Grinnell's 2018 team is third in total bases with 380 and eighth in hits with 244.

Grinnell plays four home games this weekend, hosting St. Norbert College Saturday in a doubleheader and entertaining Lawrence for two games on Senior Day Sunday. Both events begin at 1 p.m. at the Softball Complex.