The Cougars and Reivers were hooked in a pitcher’s dual through six innings until WNCC scored four runs in the seventh inning, including a Lauren Mills leadoff home run to give the Cougars a 4-1 win.
Game two was a different story as Iowa Western pounded out 18 hits to come back for a 9-5 win to split the doubleheader among the two ranked teams.
Amanda Torimaru, who hit well all weekend including two home runs in the Southwestern Iowa win on Saturday, said they played well, and that this weekend should be beneficial heading into the regional tournament this weekend.
“We showed that we have a lot of potential and we did pretty good,” the sophomore first baseman said. “The losses made us realize that we are not going to beat every team. It made us realize that we are human and we are going to lose sometimes. But, it gave us something to push forward to.”
The Cougars gave the No. 19 team in the country all they could handle. In the first game, it was a pitcher’s dual until the seventh inning when Mills blasted her 12th home run of the season to lead off the inning. It also was Mills 17th of her career, breaking a school record.
After Mills’ dinger, the Cougars plated three more runs. Amanda Hensley followed with a single. Jessie McNabb and Lauren Bourdon then each drew walks to load the bases. Kara Ryman came through with a run-scoring single, while Amanda Torimaru had a 2-run scoring single for the win.
The Cougars pounded out 12 hits, led by Mills’ 3-for-4 game. Mills had two singles, a home run, RBI, and a run scored. Hensley and Ryman each had two hits, while McNabb and Torimaru finished with a hit apiece.
Kelsey Garner continued her stellar pitching performance with a 10-strikeout performance. Garner also scattered five hits, while allowing one run.
WNCC continued its hot hitting in game two, running out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. The Cougars scored three times in the first as Mills led off with a single, followed by run-scoring doubles by McNabb and Bourdon. Ryman finished off the scoring with a RBI single.
McNabb and Ryman connected on singles in the third inning as Ryman hit scored McNabb for the 4-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last as IWCC scored once in the fourth and five times in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. WNCC did try to come back slicing the lead to 6-5 in the sixth inning as Ryman doubled and scored on a Whittany Foster single.
WNCC had nine hits in the loss, including a 3-for-3 game from Ryman. Ryman, the sophomore second baseman from
Natasha Dypchey suffered the loss, coming in relief of Ashley Patton. Patton pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing 15 hits and striking out three.
WNCC, 51-8, finished the regular season in record setting fashion. Torimaru said it is unbelievable how well this team has gelled together.
“I was surprised that we were doing so well,” she said. “I am proud of my team that we did so well.”
Now, though, comes the second season and the Region IX tournament which begins Thursday at Volunteer Field in Scottsbluff.
First round games will have Lamar facing
“We just need to keep doing how we are doing,” Torimaru said. “I think we have a pretty good team and I think we can go all the way if we want to and try hard enough.”
First Game
WNCC 000 000 4 – 4 12 2
IWCC 000 000 1 – 1 5 0
WP – Garner; 2B – Ryman; HR – Mills.
Second Game
WNCC (51-8) 301 001 0 – 5 9 0
IWCC (44-11) 000 152 x – 9 18 0
LP – Dypchey; 2B – McNabb, Ryman, Bourdon.
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