Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Softball team ran its winning streak to 15 games with an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) doubleheader sweep of Southwestern Community College on Saturday at R.L. Hellyer Field. The Warriors move to 24-12 overall and 10-0 in league play.
The Warriors surged past the Spartans to take the opener 10-5 before completing the regular season sweep of Southwestern with an 8-0 victory in five innings in the nightcap. The Warriors swept all four regular season games vs. Southwestern, outscoring the Spartans a combined 33-6. Indian Hills has now defeated the Spartans 26 consecutive times.
The Warriors' 15-game win streak is now the fourth-longest in the nation, trailing only No. 2 nationally ranked Northwest Florida State College with 34 wins, Midland College (TX) with 29 wins, and No. 14 nationally ranked Chattanooga State Community College (TN) with 21 wins. The streak is the fifth-longest for the Warriors over the past 20 seasons. During the streak, the Warriors are outscoring their opponents 124-34.
Indian Hills opened up the scoring in game one with an RBI single from Ava Smith (Waukee, IA/Waukee Northwest) in the bottom half of the first inning. The Spartans strung together five unanswered runs to take 5-1 lead after three and a half innings, but the Warriors broke things open in the bottom of the fourth. An RBI base hit from Trinity Darst (Truro, IA/Insterstate 35) sparked the Warriors before Peyton Raley (Arvada, CO/Arvada West) triple with the bases loaded to give Indian Hills a 6-5 lead.
The Warriors tacked on three more in the frame, including back-to-back home runs from Cassandra Benberg (Green Bay, WI/Pulaski) and Smith. Shanna Buford (Donnellson, IA/Central Lee) added a solo home run in the sixth, her second of the season. With a 10-5 lead intact, Jordyn Beck (Marion, IA/Linn-Mar) closed out the game with three consecutive innings of scoreless relief to secure the opening win.
Smith finished the opener 3-4 at the plate to lead the Warriors' 11-hit attack. Ashlynn Sheets (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) picked up the win in the circle, striking out five batters while Beck did not allow a hit in the relief appearance.
The Warriors put the Spartans away early in game two, scoring four runs in the first thanks to a two-run home run from Smith. Chandler Houselog (Dubuque, IA/Dubuque Hempstead) added a run-scoring double in the frame for a 4-0 advantage.
Houselog delivered another RBI double as part of a three-run third inning to extend the lead. Benberg tacked on the Warriors' final run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Sophomore Alivia Ruble (Lacona, IA/Southeast Warren) secured her 10th win of the year after allowing just one base hit in four scoreless innings of work. Freshman Courtney DenRuyter (Lena, WI/Coleman) closed out the game by striking out the side in the fifth.
Smith finished the nightcap with two hits to push her team-leading batting average to .495 on the year, second-best in the ICCAC. The sophomore has now hit safely in 19 of the team's last 20 contests.
Following Saturday's sweep, the Warriors honored their sophomore class of eight indiviudals – Jordyn Beck, Peyton Raley, Ava Smith, Yarah Zuiver, Alivia Ruble, Ashlynn Sheets, Courtney Locke, and Shanna Buford.
The Warriors are back in action at R.L. Hellyer Field Sunday afternoon for an ICCAC doubleheader with Iowa Western Community College. First pitch is set for 12:00 PM.
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home softball games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
- GoHillsTV App: Download the GoHillsTV app on your android or ios device
- Website: https://www.gohillstv.com/browse to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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