#7 Eagles Make It 24 in a Row
Iowa Lakes/Fort Dodge, IA- The 7th-ranked Kirkwood Eagles were coming into this weekend with a 36-10 (13-1 ICCAC) record and were riding a 20-game win streak. They looked to continue that against Ellsworth and Iowa Central, a team that was receiving votes in DII National Poll. Steady pitching and an explosive offense has lifted Kirkwood past opponents this spring and this weekend would prove to be no different.
The first series took Kirkwood to Iowa Lakes to take on the Ellsworth Panthers. In the first game, Sydney Roe would continue her hitting hot streak, hitting two home runs in the 2nd and 4th innings, driving in 7 runs total. The Eagles jumped out to the lead quickly in the top of the 1st after Peyton Johnson hit a sacrifice fly, the Panthers committed an error, and Delia Schwartz hit a single that scored one run. 9 more runs would come in the top of the 2nd off of 6 hits by the Eagles. Besides Roe's homer, Lexi Hines would also hit a homer to left field in the 2nd, scoring three runs. Sailor Hall started in the circle for the Eagles. The starting pitcher allowed 1 hit and 1 run over three innings, striking out 2. Natalie Vitek pitched two innings of shutout ball in relief. The Eagles would finish the game by a lopsided score of 19-1. The second game of the day would look a lot like the first. A double by Kylie Schult would put Kirkwood on the board in the top of the 2nd inning. Sophia Kreutner would drive in 6 runs on 4 hits. She would hit a home run to left field in the 4th, double in the 3rd, and singled in the 4th. The pitching would stay consistent for the Eagles with Peyton Paulsen striking out 13 batters in the game. The Eagles would use a huge 4th inning to put the game completely out of reach of the Panthers. They would score 12 runs off of 10 hits including a grand slam by Lexi Hines. Roe kept her home run streak going with a homer to center field in the top of the 5th, scoring 3. Again, the Eagles only needed 5 innings to finish the game, this time by a score of 23-3.
The second series of the weekend would prove to be more competitive for Kirkwood, however, it was nothing they couldn't handle. The Eagles would start the scoring against the Tritons in the top of the 1st after Peyton Johnson hit a home run to left field, scoring two runs, and Delia Schwartz singled, scoring another. Iowa Central would quickly tie the game, however, in the bottom of the 1st at 3 runs a piece. Kirkwood wouldn't let that tie sit long though. Lexi Hines would add to her home run tally by blasting a homer to center field in the 2nd and Peyton Johnson would hit another home run as well, scoring another run. Hines wasn't done. Her bat stayed hot and she hit a solo home run to center field in the 5th. Iowa Central would try and make a push in the bottom of the 6th by scoring 3 runs, however, they could not overcome the deficit created by Kirkwood the Eagles would take the game 7-6. In game 2, Kirkwood's pitching would prove to be too much for the Tritons. Peyton Driscoll started for Kirkwood and tallied 10 strikeouts. The pitcher would allow 6 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings. The game was a back-and-forth affair until Kirkwood put the game out of reach in the 7th inning with a Peyton Johnson home run, scoring two runs, and an RBI by Sophia Kreutner.
The wins extend Kirkwood's win streak to 24. The Eagles have big games this Wednesday against #10 DMACC at home starting at 2 PM.
