Hampton Wins 600th For Tigers
Iowa Wesleyan played a non-conference double header against Saint Louis College of Pharmacy yesterday afternoon. The Tigers entered the day with head coach Mike Hampton one win away from his 600th career win. Hampton reached the milestone with a 9-2 victory in the first game of the day. IW won the second game of the day by a score of 7-1.
With the wins, Mike Hampton moved to 601 career wins at Iowa Wesleyan University. Hampton is the winningest coach in Iowa Wesleyan softball history and has been at the helm of the Tiger Softball program for the past 24 seasons. This year, the Tigers currently hold a 12-20 overall record and are 5-9 in conference play.
The first inning went by without either team scoring, but the Tigers were able to get on the board in the bottom of the second. They recorded three hits and plated two runs to take the lead. Sydnee Stalker (SO/Ottawa, IL) led the inning off with a double, and Julie Dodd (SO/Rock Falls, IL) followed with an RBI single for the first run of the game. Julie Dodd scored the final run of the inning on a ground out by Zoie Carney (JR/Roscoe, IL).
Saint Louis College of Pharmacy tied the game up at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning. The Tigers gave up two hits in the inning, a single and a two run home run that tied the game. It was a defensive battle over the next three innings. There were only four hits by both teams in the three innings and neither team could make anything happen.
Iowa Wesleyan was able to break the game open in the top of the seventh inning. They added seven runs with the help of one hit and seven errors by Saint Louis College of Pharmacy. Julie Dodd drew a leadoff walk. IW attempted to advance the runner with back to back bunts, and both times they were successful due to errors. Iowa Wesleyan's defense was solid in the bottom of the seventh. They ended the game by sitting down the first three batters that came up in the inning.
Samantha McIlwain (JR/Boone, IA) was in the circle for the Tigers to open the double header. She pitched a complete game with 12 strikeouts and only one walk in the game.
The Tigers had another close one through the first several innings of the second game of the day. They took an early lead, scoring one run in the first and second inning to lead 2-0 going into the third inning. Saint Louis College of Pharmacy added a run in the bottom of the third to bring the score to 2-1 after recording four hits in the inning.
In the top of the fifth inning, Iowa Wesleyan extended their lead to go up 7-1. They used two hits and took advantage of four errors to score five runs in the inning. Ashley Machholz (FR/Mediapolis, IA) drew a leadoff walk and stole second to move into scoring position for IW. Machholz scored when Kassie Vazquez (SR/Ainsworth, IA) reached base due to a throwing error for the first run of the inning. O'Neill came across the plate after an error on a ground ball for the second run. Sydnee Stalker drove in a run with a ground out to the third baseman, and Julie Dodd drove in the final run of the inning on a double to right center field.
Both teams would fail to score in the final two innings, and Iowa Wesleyan went on to win 7-1 to complete the sweep. Julie Dodd earned the win after pitching seven full innings. She allowed one run in the game and struck out two batters.
STORY COURTESY OF IOWA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
