The Dordt University softball team opened its conference slate with a doubleheader sweep against Waldorf (Iowa) on Wednesday night at the American State Bank Sports Complex (ASB Dome). Dordt won game one 11-0 (5 innings) and earned a 6-1 win in game two.
Dordt, who is receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' poll, improved to 2-0 in the conference and 21-6 overall.
The Defenders pounded out 23 hits and hit four home runs in the two games off Waldorf pitching while also limiting the Warriors to three hits and one run on the day.
Game One: 11-0 win (5 innings)
Dordt hit three home runs and totaled 12 hits in an 11-0, five-inning win in game one.
All nine Defender hitters had at least one hit, led by
Chloe Kreuz who went 3/4 and finished a triple short of the cycle. The junior led off the game with her GPAC-leading eighth home run of the season.
Taylor Schneider also had multiple hits for the Defenders, going 2-for-2 with a walk and run scored. Both
Annabelle Hensley and
Lauren Steenstra drove in two runs.
Rylee Yager (10-4) earned her GPAC-leading 10th win of the season, limiting Waldorf to just one base-runner, a one-out single by Betsy Ridout in the fourth. Yager retired the first 10 batters she faced and struck out 12 Waldorf hitters.
Dordt raced out to a 3-0 lead as the first three Defender hitters all reached base and scored. After Kreuz's leadoff home run, Yager followed with a single and scored on Hensley's 2-run home run.
The Defenders blew the game open with seven runs in the second inning on six hits and one Waldorf error. Steenstra hit a two-run, home-run while
Peyton Whipple and
Aubrey DeShaw both had RBI singles. Dordt pushed across its final run in the fourth inning on a Kreuz RBI single.
Makenzie Cope (1-2) allowed nine hits and 10 runs in 1.2 innings while Jaycee Plath pitched the final 2.1 innings.
Game Two: 6-1 win
Abigail Tweedy (5-1) pitched a complete-game two hitter while the Defender bats continued their strong production in its 6-1 win in game two.
Tweedy struck out 12, walked three and limited the Waldorf line-up to a pair of singles in seven full innings.
For the second consecutive game, Kreuz led the Defenders with three hits, including another home run and two RBI. Kreuz, who has nine home runs this season, finished a double short of the cycle.
Annabelle Hensley,
Lauren Steenstra and
Molly Zylstra all had two hits with Steenstra driving in two.
After Tweedy retired Waldorf in order in the top of the first, Dordt pushed across its first run when Kreuz led off with a single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Steenstra.
The Defenders extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Yager came across after another RBI single by Steenstra, who later scored on a single from Zylstra.
Dordt pushed its lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Tera Lynn Price led off with a triple and scored on a home run by Kreuz.
Waldof scored its only run of the day on a bases-loaded walk to Kylie Bates in the fiffth.
The Defenders concluded their scoring in the sixth when Kreuz tripled and scored on a Yager groundout.
