#9 Kirkwood Victorious Over Redtails and Hawks
Hudson & Cedar Rapids, IA- The #9 Kirkwood Eagles were looking to keep the momentum going into their 4-game stretch against the Hawkeye Redtails and the Southeastern Hawks. The Eagles were bringing in a 10-game-winning streak into Wednesday and they were looking to keep it going.
In the series against Hawkeye, the Eagles would continue to show that scoring runs is not a problem for them. They would jump out to their customary inning 1 start by putting 5 runs up right away. The Eagles got on the board in the top of the first inning after Sailor Hall singled, scoring one run. Sydney Roe then hit a double, scoring two, and Sophia Kreutner homered to left field, bringing in two more runs. During the game, Roe would drive in 6 runs on 4 hits. Kirkwood added to their early lead in the third off a Peyton Johnson double, a Hall double, a Roe double, and a single from Delia Schwartz (each scoring one run). Kirkwood would add 7 more runs in the top of the 5th on 6 hits. Overall, the Eagles put up a staggering 26 hits in the game to beat the Redtails by a score of 24-8.
In the second game of the day, Kirkwood would again get on the board in the first inning after a single from Sailor Hall would score one run. Kirkwood would add four more runs in the top of the 3rd off of three hits; a Kylie Schult single, a Lexi Hines home run, and Peyton Johnson scored after tagging up. Lexi Hines would drive in four runs in the game off of her four hits. Peyton Driscoll started pitching for the Eagles, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs over three innings, while striking out seven. Natalie Vitek pitched two innings of scoreless ball for Kirkwood in relief. Kirkwood would tally 16 hits in this game and take it 21-2.
The first game against Southeastern would prove to be one of the closer games Kirkwood has played in a while. Both teams would score in the first, with Kirkwood holding a 2-1 lead after the inning. This came off of a Sydney Roe single which scored two runs. Southeastern would come back to tie the game in the second inning at 2-2. The bottom of the 3rd inning would provide another 3 runs for the Eagles with a Brenna Ross double scoring one run, a Peyton Johnson run after she tagged up, and a Sophia Kreutner single that scored one run. Kirkwood would stave off a comeback from the Hawks who put up 3 runs of their own in the 5th but were unable to completely close the gap with Kirkwood taking the game 6-5.
In the final game against the Hawks, a big second inning and great pitching would prove to be the difference makers. Kirkwood had Sailor Hall starting in the circle and the pitcher gave up 2 hits and 0 runs over five innings, striking out 7. Brenna Ross, Delia Schwartz, and Sydney Roe each collected two hits for Kirkwood.
Next up for the Eagles are big games against Ellsworth and Iowa Central this weekend at home.
