The fourth time proved to be a charm for the Grinnell College softball team against Westminster College.
After dropping three previous contests to the Blue Jays this season by a combined score of 23-3, the Pioneers rallied to beat the visitors 6-5 in the consolation game of the Grinnell Tournament Saturday afternoon.
That wasn’t the only good fortune for the Pioneers, though. In a 12-2 setback to Washington University during pool play earlier in the day, Amanda Stromquist ’12 belted a homer to become Grinnell’s career leader in that category.
After the tourney, Pioneers Jayme Wiebold ’12 and Summer Wilke ’15 were named to the all-tournament team.
The win over Westminster was particularly special for Pioneers’ coach Amanda Reckamp, who not only played for the Blue Jays but also served as an assistant coach there before coming to Grinnell.
Westminster shot out to a 5-0 lead against Grinnell, scoring a solo run in the third inning, three in the fourth and another in the fifth.
But then the Pioneers went to work. After having just one hit through the first four frames, the Pioneers had three in the fifth to go along with some walks and two errors. By the time it was all done, Grinnell had pushed six runs across the plate.
Jessica Menary ’13 led off with a single to left and was sacrificed to second by Lindsay Fujimoto ’15. Wilke then drew a walk as Menary got caught stealing third.
Wilke went to second on a passed ball and Aniela Wendt ’14 walked before Wiebold delivered a two-run triple to right field, making it 5-2.
Christina Colver ’13 then walked before Aiyana Turpen-Scott ’14 belted an RBI double down the left-field line. Stromquist then walked and so did Jennifer Fulton ’15 to push across yet another run, making it 5-4.
Menary then reached on an error to score two more runs, putting Grinnell ahead 6-5.
Fulton, who got the first pitching win of her Pioneer career, allowed two hits in the top of the sixth but no runs. She then sat the visitors down in order in the seventh to give the Pioneers their second win of the season. They are now 2-16, while Westminster fell to 9-13.
In the game against Washington University, the Bears scored two runs in the second inning before Grinnell cut the lead in half with a swing of the bat in the bottom half of the inning. Stromquist took a two-out pitch and delivered it over the left-field fence for her ninth career homer, breaking the mark of eight she had shared with Darcy Ward and Dinah Zebot.
The Bears countered with a run in the third, but Grinnell scored one in the bottom of the frame. Wilke walked, was sacrificed to second by Wendt, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Bears tallied nine runs in the fifth and won by the mercy rule in five innings.
Stromquist suffered the pitching loss for Grinnell, while the Bears moved to 17-10 with the win and a date in the title game with Nebraska Wesleyan.
Grinnell travels to Waukegan, Ill., next weekend for the Midwest Conference Classic.
FRIDAY, APRIL 6
Washington U. 5, Westminster 2
Nebraska Wesleyan 12, Grinnell 2 (6 innings)
Nebraska Wesleyan 7, Washington U. 5 (11 innings)
Westminster 7, Grinnell 2
SATURDAY, APRIL 7
Nebraska Wesleyan 6, Westminster 5
Washington U. 12, Grinnell 2 (5 innings)
Consolation: Grinnell 6, Westminster 5
Championship: Washington U. 13, Nebraska Wesleyan 2 (6 innings)
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jayme Wiebold, Grinnell
Summer Wilke, Grinnell
Lori Jones, Westminster
Brittany Lee, Westminster
Brenna Maguire, Nebraska Wesleyan
Lauren Bodfield, Nebraska Wesleyan
Olivia Cooke, Washington U.
Ashley Janssen, Washington U.
