The Dordt softball team split their second series of GPAC play with the Doane Tigers at Open Space Park in Sioux Center on Saturday afternoon. A tale of two games that saw the first game end with a 3-1 Dordt win where Chloe Kruez went the distance and the second game that saw Doane take a 10-9 decision with a combined 28 hits.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One
The Defenders took the lead early after
Brooke Rule leadoff with a single and advanced to second on a
Brooklynn Cox sac bunt. After an error,
Chloe Kreuz reached first safely on an error by the third baseman and Rule advanced to third. A throwing error by the first basemen allowed Rule to come in and score the game's first run and Kreuz reached second safely.
Ashtyn Grissom drove in Kreuz on a single to right field and Dordt took a 2-1 lead.
Doane's Grace Dowding lead off the top of the third with a single down the left field line and was bunted over to second. Dowding advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven in on a ground out to second to cut the lead in half.
Brooklynn Cox lead off the third with a triple and was later driven in by a
Chloe Kreuz sac fly to add an insurance run and. Dordt would hold on for a 3-1 lead.
By the numbers:
- Dordt scored three runs on seven hits and had two errors
- Doane scored one run on four hits and had three errors
- Chloe Kreuz (W, 7-9) got the win and pitched a complete game
- Faith McDonald (L, 4-8) pitched 4.0 innings and gave up one earned run with one strike out
Game Two
Game two saw the Tigers take an early lead in the first inning on an error and add another one on a single to score Villegas.
Brooke Rule opened up with a lead off triple and was driven in by
Brooklynn Cox on a fielder's choice.
After a
Kacie Karsak double,
Lauren Steenstra stepped up and hit an opposite field home run to take a 3-2 lead. However, the lead wouldn't last long as Doane hit a two-RBI double that gave them the lead right back. An inning later, Faith Molina hit a two-run homer that extended the lead, 6-3.
Lauren Steenstra stepped back up in the fourth and launched her second homer over the scoreboard in center field to to bring the Defenders to within two runs. Doane had an immediate answer as Bri True doubled down the left field line and scored two to make the score 8-4.
Dordt didn't quit as
Kacie Karsak singled to score
Annabelle Hensley after she singled and advanced on a wild pitch. With Karsak at first,
Lauren Steenstra hit a fly ball into the opposite field that had enough juice to clear the right field wall for her third homer of the game. That brought Dordt within one but a Doane RBI single put the Tigers up by two.
Once again, Dordt brought it back within one on a
Chloe Kreuz sac fly. Bri True stepped up and hit a solo shot in the top of the seventh to go back up by two.
Ashtyn Grissom pinch hit and was immediately hit by a pitch.
Molly Zylstra came into pinch run and scored on a
Kacie Karsak double, making the score 10-9 in Doane's favor. Makaiah De Jager pinch ran for Karsak and
Lauren Steenstra saw four straight balls and the winning run was at first.
Taylor Schneider pinch hit for
Brynn Torrenga and struck out by
Kyleigh Reiter legged out an infield single to load the bases. Dordt had the top of the lineup due up but back-to-back strikeouts spoiled the Defenders comeback attempt.
After this double header, the Defenders have a record of 14-17 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Dordt's next games will be on Saturday, March 29 in Yankton, South Dakota as they face Mount Marty.
By the numbers:
- Dordt scored nine runs on 13 hits and committed one error
- Doane scored 10 runs on 15 hits and didn't have any errors
- Bailey Sample (L, 4-4) pitched 3.0 innings and gave up four earned runs on seven hits
- Faith Molina (W, 6-5) pitched 5.2 innings and gave up six earned runs with nine hits
- Lauren Steenstra hit the most home runs in a single game (3) in Dordt history
