Sophomore night sweep

The Spartans finished the regular season with a home sweep of Central Community College - Columbus on Sunday and two losses to Kansas City Kansas Community College Monday.

Sunday the Spartans honored their nine sophomores in between games. Sophomores are: Cora Ostrem, Erika Kruse, Jaisa Boos, Brooklyn Hadl, Calie Allen, Sadie Thompson, Lily McCrae, Kirsten Streeter and Bethany Button.

The Spartans won game one 6-4 over the Raiders. Bailey Hosbach pitched five innings, striking out six batters and allowing four runs. Streeter came in for two innings, striking out four batters and shutting out the Raiders’ offense.

Though Button didn’t score any runs, she put up three hits on four at-bats to send in four of the team’s six runs.

Scoring for the Spartans were Emma Moore and Kruse with two each and Boos and Ryleigh Allgood each with one. Kruse logged a home run in the first game.

In game two, SWCC shut out Central 11-0 in five innings, powered by a six-run second inning.

Oestrum pitched four innings, striking out two batters and allowing only two hits.

Allen was the heavy-hitter this game, going three-for-three at bat, two of which were home runs. She logged four RBIs.

Also scoring two runs this game were Hadl, Moore and Kruse. Button, Streeter and Joslyn Policky each put up one run. Kruse led in RBIs with five.

Against the Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils, the Spartans lost 9-6 and 13-9.

The Spartans had 12 hits in the first game but left five runners stranded. Streeter and Hadl led in game-one scoring with two runs each. Allen hit a homer for the Spartans.

Game two saw the Spartans down 7-2 after the fourth inning. They scored two in the fifth to narrow the lead, and in bottom of the seventh, SWCC put together three runs to tie the game at 7, forcing an extra inning.

The Blue Devils came out swinging in the eighth, putting up six runs. While the Spartans were able to score two of their own, it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Three Spartans had home runs, Hadl, Kruse and Allen. Kruse was five-for-five at the plate, scoring three runs and logging three RBIs.

Postseason

The Spartans secured a No. 4 seed in the 2025 NJCAA Regional 11 Division I Softball Tournament. They will head to Ottumwa to take on the top-seeded Indian Hills Community College in a best-of-three semifinal series beginning today.

The Spartans enter the postseason after competing against a tough ICCAC slate that includes perennial national contenders such as Iowa Western, Iowa Central and Kirkwood. Under the leadership of head coach Danny Jensen, Southwestern has shown consistent improvement throughout the season.

Game one is at 2 p.m. with game two to follow at 4. If necessary, game three will be played at 2 p.m. Thursday.

All games will be streamed live via the ICCAC Sports Network.

The winner of the series will advance to the Region 11 Championship round May 4–5, hosted by the higher remaining seed.

The eventual Region 11 Champion will then face the Region 16 Champion in the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament on May 9–10, with a trip to the NJCAA Division I Softball World Series in Yuma, Arizona, on the line.