Softball Rolls Past Cornell for DH Sweep

The Buena Vista softball team was back on the road on Tuesday evening and the Beavers return to campus after picking up a key Iowa Conference doubleheader sweep at Cornell College.  BVU scored a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh innings of game one to win 4-0 before a big four-run sixth inning in the final boosted them to a 5-2 triumph.

Freshman Erin Kleifoth (Exira, Iowa/Exira) broke a scoreless game in the sixth inning of the opener when she belted her third home run of the year – a two-run shot – to give BVU a 2-0 lead.  Then with runners on second and third and two-outs in the seventh, fellow freshman Jordon Pilcher (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/George Washington) picked up an RBI infield single, before the Beavers scored the second run when the shortstop’s throw went wild.

Senior Chancey Wilcke (Battle Creek, Iowa/BC-IG), who picked up her 30^th career win, worked out of a bases load jam in the seventh by snatching a comebacker and throwing the runner out at first for the game’s final out.

Stephanie Hayden (Prairie City, Iowa/PCM) went 3-for-4 at the plate in the contest, including a double and a run scored, while senior Aphton Roberts (Paullina, Iowa/South O’Brien) added a pair of hits.

Wilcke went the distance on the mound for her third complete-game shutout of the year, scattering seven hits, striking out two and walking only one.

Wilcke was clutch with both her arm and bat in the finale, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, including a big two-run single in the sixth.  She also pitched the first 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits, while striking out three and improving to 10-5 on the year.

BVU got on the board in the first when Sam Engleman (Hawarden, Iowa/West Sioux) doubled with two outs and then came around to score on a Wilcke single to right.

That’s the way the score stood until the sixth when the Beavers tallied four runs.  Brooke Berkey (Colfax, Iowa/Colfax-Mingo) doubled home the first run before Wicke’s two-out base hit pushed the margin to 4-0.  Engleman later scored on a wild pitch for the team’s final run.

The Rams then scored their first two runs of the day in the seventh on a two-out double.  Jami Webster (Spencer, Iowa/Spencer) then relieved Wilcke to get the final hitter to line out and pick up her first save of the year.

Engleman also recorded two base hits and scored twice for BVU, which is now 6-2 in road games this season.  It was also the first doubleheader sweep of Cornell since 2006.

The Beavers, which won just 12 games all of last season, are now 13-9 overall and will travel to fifth-ranked Luther College (24-4, 7-1 IIAC) on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 2:00pm.

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