Pride sweep Culver-Stockton in Sunday home doubleheader

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Getting back to on their home field following their midweek trip to Mount Mercy, the Clarke University softball team earned a pair of wins over Culver-Stockton College on Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park by 6-1 and 5-4 final scores.

The Pride earned their wins in nearly polar opposite ways with game one's 6-1 victory coming behind an early offensive outburst seeing CU score a pair of runs in each the first, third, and fourth innings to support another strong start from sophomore pitcher Meredith Gatto.

Kennedi LeDuff, Lauren Hefel, and Oakleigh Harman were in the middle of the scoring in game one as LeDuff singled home a pair of runs in the first, then added another RBI single in the fourth while Harman and Hefel both produced RBI doubles in the third and fourth respectively as Hefel scored a run in the first and fourth innings with Harman scoring after her double on a Jenna Ulin single in the third.

That trio of LeDuff, Hefel, and Harman all finished with two-hit games as Kaylie Holtam, Harlee Makue-Vasconcellos, and Hannah Palzkill also all finished with multi-hit games as Palzkill went 3-for-4 with a run scored, then Holtam and Makue-Vasconcellos both going 2-for-4 with a run scored at the top of the Clarke lineup.

Six was plenty for Gatto as the Dubuque native tossed her 10th complete game of the season to finish allowing an unearned run on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts to move her season punchout total to 103, crossing the 100-strikeout mark for the first time in her two seasons.

The Pride needed a bit of a comeback effort in game two to pull off the doubleheader sweep as they held a 2-1 lead but a couple of tough fly balls while battling the sun resultsed in a two-run top of the fourth for the Wildcats to take a 3-2 lead and extend it to 4-2 in the fifth.

Clarke would load the bases in the bottom of the fifth where a CSC error gave CU a run back, making it 4-3 with runners at second and third for LeDuff, who would produce yet again for her fourth and fifth RBIs of the day to give the Pride a 5-4 lead.

After starting the sixth inning and allow a couple of runners, starter Payge Pyszka would give way to freshman Hannah Peña as Peña would force a popped up bunt to her catcher, Alicia Casas, and a line drive double play to Palzkill to get out of the sixth inning jam.

There would be no drama in the seventh for Peña as the DeWitt, Iowa native tossed a one, two, three inning for her first collegiate save to clinch the win for Pyszka, her fourth win on the year, allowing four runs, just two earned, on eight hits with no walks and a single strikeout.

Holtam, Makue-Vasconcellos, and Hefel all had two-hit games at the top of the CU order again in the finale with Holtam scoring twice and also driving in a run in the second inning as LeDuff, Harman, Mya Durr, and Casas all producing hits in the middle and bottom of the order as well.

Clarke softball will now prepare for a hectic week of game action starting on Wednesday, Apr. 9 as they'll make up a doubleheader that was scheduled for last Friday at William Penn University with first pitch in Oskaloosa, Iowa scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT to begin a stretch of six-straight days of doubleheaders for CU.