Mount
Mercy extends winning streak to six games
Posted
4/6/08 9:29 PM
Meredith O'Brien |
Katie Strain |
DUBUQUE, Iowa
-- One day after sweeping St. Ambrose University, the Mount Mercy
College softball team made it six straight victories with a pair
of wins at Clarke College in Midwest Collegiate Conference play
on Sunday.
Mount Mercy,
which has won every game since opening its league slate with close
losses to Waldorf College on March 29, is 12-6 overall and 6-2
in the MCC. Their current winning streak matches their entire
win total from 2007 and puts the Mustangs in third place in the
MCC, two games back of Waldorf (20-9, 10-2 MCC) and William Penn
University (20-14, 10-2 MCC).
A three-run
sixth inning gave Mount Mercy a 3-1 victory over St. Ambrose in
Saturday's opener. Senior second baseman Tara Herzberger, freshman
center fielder Laura Baldus, and sophomore shortstop Amber Schulte
each went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the Mustangs. Senior right-hander
Meredith O'Brien (6-3) limited the Queen Bees to three hits, allowing
no earned runs in seven innings while striking out four and walking
four.
Herzberger,
senior third baseman Mary Wells, and sophomore right fielder Kalyn
Harms had two hits apiece in the nightcap, a 4-2 Mount Mercy triumph.
Both St. Ambrose runs were unearned as senior righty Katie Strain
(4-2) and O'Brien teamed up for a two-hitter.
O'Brien was
solid again in Mount Mercy's 3-1 victory over Clarke in game one
on Sunday. She scattered three hits and didn't allow an earned
run while striking out six. The Mustangs were held to three hits
as well -- one each from Baldus, Wells, and freshman designated
hitter Kortney Cole -- but they made them count in the second,
third, and sixth innings.
Mount Mercy
collected seven hits in game two, but needed a sacrifice fly by
Wells in the top of the fourth inning to defeat the Crusaders,
1-0. Herzberger and Strain had two hits apiece for the Mustangs.
Strain, who scored the game's only run after leading off the fourth
with a triple, was brilliant on the mound. She went the distance,
giving up just two hits while striking out six.
Four conference
doubleheaders highlight a busy schedule for Mount Mercy this week.
The Mustangs head to Clinton, Iowa, on Wednesday to take on Ashford
University at 3:00 p.m. Mount Mercy hosts Grand View College on
Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Third Base Sports Park, then travels to
Viterbo University (Wis.) and Waldorf over the weekend. The Mustangs
square off with Viterbo on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in La Crosse,
Wis., and Waldorf on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Forest City, Iowa.
