CEDAR RAPIDS — The Southwestern Community College softball season ended here Monday, as the Spartans fell to No. 8 Kirkwood 17-3 in Game 4 of the Region XI-A bracket.
Sunday, the fourth-seeded Spartans knocked off seventh-seeded Ellsworth by an 8-0 score in just six innings.
“The first three innings were real quick,” Southwestern head coach Lindsay Stumpff said. “It was looking like it was going to be the fastest seven innings of softball. Finally we started hitting.”
Gabby DuBois started things off in the fourth inning with a single and Emma Ferin drove her home with a double to open the floodgates. DuBois eventually hit a two-run walkoff homer for the Spartans.
Ferin, Mel Stevens and Nikki Tennant each hit a double. Brennan Banks, Ferin and Stevens drove in one run apiece, while DuBois drove in three.
Malory Christiansen picked up the win for the Spartans, pitching six innings and surrendering only two hits.
Southwestern then dropped a 10-4 game to Kirkwood, after the Eagles dispatched of Ellsworth 9-0.
“I thought our girls came out ready to play,” Stumpff said. “The score is a bit deceiving. It doesn’t show the effort we put in that game or how well we played. It’s the most we’ve scored against them. At one point it was 7-4. It seems like every game we have that one bad inning and I think it took the wind out of our sails.”
Kirkwood totaled 16 hits to Southwestern’s four in the game. DuBois and Banks each hit a double in the game. Ashley Gibbs drove in two runs and DuBois had one RBI.
Sam Strand took the loss in the circle, giving up six runs, two walks and five hits.
The Spartans entered Game 4 against Kirkwood needing to win back-to-back games against the Eagles to continue their season.
But Kirkwood got on the board in a hurry and never looked back in a 17-3 win.
“The second one, that was pretty much a debacle,” Stumpff said. “I thought we were ready. In warmups, the girls seemed like they were ready. The first inning they scored two runs. Neither one of those were earned, so that hurt us a lot. Second inning, they scored three and one wasn’t earned.”
Southwestern was hampered by five errors in the game, all of which led to Kirkwood runs.
“They get on base with our errors and next thing you know, somebody is hitting a home run,” Stumpff said.
Southwestern ended its season with a record of 26-19 overall. Kirkwood advanced to the District G Championship in Cedar Rapids today and Saturday against North Platte Community College.