Mount Pleasant, IA. -- The Panthers had a great day at the ball park today. Excellent pitching, met with great defense to back it up secured two wins for the Panthers.
Game 1:Â Principia 1, Iowa Wesleyan 0
Offensively, the Panthers came out pretty flat. The team struggled to adjust to Iowa Wesleyan's pitcher's rise ball, resulting in several strike outs and fly balls. A home run in the first inning, hit by
Hannah Hathaway, scored the Panther's only run. Consistently under the ball in each inning, the Panthers struggled to get the runners and hits they needed to score more runs. Hits for game one go to
Hannah Hathaway with a single, home run, and one RBI and
Genie Nyiramana with a single.
Defensively, the Panthers came ready to shut Iowa Wesleyan down.
Leah Schaefer was on the rubber for game one and kept the Panthers in the game. Schaefer hit her spots and set up the Iowa Wesleyan batters for easy outs. With a composed and solid defense behind her, Principia shut down the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers every inning to secure the win.
Game 2:Â Principia 4, Iowa Wesleyan 2
The Panther offense came out with more intention and determination in game two. Several well-hit balls went right at Iowa defenders and it was tough for the Panthers to get base runners to start. The Panthers were finally able to string together some well-hit balls in the fifth inning when
Lauren Daugherty hit in the Panther's first run of the game with an RBI single. After a defensive error in the bottom of the fifth inning that cost the Panthers a run,
Hannah Hathaway and
Lauren Daugherty hit in three more runs for the Panthers to secure the lead. Hits for game two go to
Emily Hewitt with two singles,
Alyssa Hudenburg with a double,
Hannah Hathaway with a single and a double and two RBIs, and
Lauren Daugherty with three singles and two RBIs.
Leah Schaefer was back on the rubber for game two, continuing to set up batters and get the outs the defense needed. Three errors by the defense put the Panthers in some tough situations that the Tigers could have tied the game with, but Schaefer's control of the strike zone got the Panthers out of a few potentially big innings. The defense showed great resolve in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-run lead, and got the outs they needed to secure their second win for the day.
Up Next:
The Panthers will travel to Blackburn College tomorrow for a non-conference double header at 5:00 and 7:00 pm.
Â
