MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - For the third time since 2018, the Grinnell College softball team is postseason bound.
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The Pioneers punched their ticket to the Midwest Conference Tournament Saturday with a 5-2 victory over Cornell College in the opening game of a doubleheader.
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Grinnell didn't rest on its laurels, though, and took the second game 10-5.
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Kathryn Vermeulen '24 scattered eight hits in the opener while fanning three batters in a complete-game effort. Samantha Chu '24 and Taylor Durak '24 paced the offense with two hits apiece.
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Grinnell took a lead it would never relinquish with two runs in the third inning on an RBI single by Chu and run-scoring double from Durak. Mary Webb '23 walked with the bases loaded to make it 3-0 in the fifth.
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After Cornell cut the lead to 3-1, Amanda Ramirez '23 had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Emma Nelson '23 an RBI single in the seventh.
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Ramirez, Alexa Okada '24 and Chu each had three hits in the second game for Grinnell (17-16, 11-3 MWC). Chu's RBI double in the first made it 1-0 before Cornell (8-24, 6-8 MWC) tied it in the bottom of the inning.
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The Pioneers added three runs in the third as Webb pushed across two runs with a double and Nelson plated one with another double. In the fourth, Chu was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Durak hit an RBI single to make it 6-1.
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Cornell closed the gap to 6-4 before the Pioneers added some insurance. Chu hit an RBI double in the sixth, while Okada added a two-run triple in the seventh and later scored on a wild pitch.
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Maddy O'Bryan '24 was the winning pitcher, giving up eight hits in six innings while striking out two.
Fittingly, Grinnell's defense ended the game via a double play in the bottom of the seventh inning that involved Ramirez, who now owns the school record for DPs turned in a season with 11.
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Grinnell closes MWC play Sunday with a home doubleheader against Illinois College. Action begins at 1 p.m.