BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Softball wrapped up play at the Illinois Wesleyan University tournament on Sunday, Mar. 29 with a 1-1 day that was highlighted by a comeback win over IWU 10-7 after a 10-run top of the fifth inning in the first game of the day before falling to No. 19 UW-Osh Kosh 5-1 in the second game of the day.
 
Bella Mulder led the fifth inning offensive explosion against Illinois Wesleyan, with two separate three-run home runs over the left field wall in the same inning.
 
Wartburg is now 15-7 overall, Illinois Wesleyan moves to 10-9 overall and UW-Osh Kosh is now 15-4.
 
Game Summary

• Illinois Wesleyan
  • Second Inning
    • Addy Wells, Liz Kruckenberg and Amanda Strzyzewski singled in back-to-back-to-back at bats to load the bases, but IWU was able to escape the jam with two-straight outs
  • Third Inning
    • Wartburg's defense stranded two runners in the bottom of the second, but Illinois Wesleyan was able to get on the scoreboard in the third inning after scoring three runs on two hits to take a 3-0 lead
  • Fourth Inning
    • Wells and Strzyzewski both reached base in the top of the fourth, but were unable to be brought home
    • With one out in the bottom half, IWU loaded up the bases and used three hits to bring across four more runs to take a 7-0 lead
  • Fifth Inning
    • Ally Happ and Reagan Hassel both reached base and stole a base before Mulder knocked a home run to left field to put Wartburg on the board and cut the Titan lead to 7-3
    • Carley Bredar continued the inning with a single and then Jenna Wiebenga reached on an error before Wells brought Bredar home and advanced Sophie Stanic (pinch ran for Wiebenga) with a sacrifice bunt
    • With two outs, Strzyzewski walked to put runners on first and third following a steal from Stanic, which led to an RBI-single from Kaylee Mescher that cut the IWU lead to 7-5
    • Happ was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Hassel, who delivered a two-RBI single down the right field line to bring the Knights all the way back to tie the game at 7-7
    • The Knights were not finished in the fifth inning as Mulder stepped up for her second at bat of the inning and delivered the same exact result as earlier with a three-run shot to left field that put Wartburg ahead 10-7
  • Sixth Inning
    • Lauren Dyer allowed just one hit in the bottom of the fifth and then was replaced in the circle by Katelyn Klever for the final two innings of play
  • Seventh Inning
    • Hassel made a diving play in the field for the final out as the Knights held off the Titans in the final innings to secure a 10-7 win on the road
      • Dyer earned the win in the circle and Klever picked up a save
• No. 19 UW-Osh Kosh
  • First Inning
    • Each team recorded one hit in the first inning, but were unable to bring any runs across
      • Hassel doubled for the Knights to lead off the bottom half of the first
  • Second Inning
    • UW-Osh Kosh used a single and a stolen base to get a runner in scoring position before another single brought home the runner to give the Titans a 1-0 lead
  • Third Inning
    • The Titans extended the lead to 2-0 after two fielding errors allowed a run to score before the Knights got out of the inning with a double play following a lineout to Hassel and a throw out at first
  • Fifth Inning
    • UW-Osh Kosh added a lead off home run to make the score 3-0 headed to the sixth inning
  • Sixth Inning
    • Wartburg's bats came alive in the sixth inning when Stephanie Kiefer singled to lead off the inning before Stanic came in as a pinch runner
    • Hassel brought home Stanic to put the Knights on the board as the score was now 3-1 headed into the final inning of play
  • Seventh Inning
    • The Titans added two more insurance runs off of two hits in the top of the seventh and despite Wells and Kruckenberg both singling in the final frame, UW-Osh Kosh held off Wartburg for a 5-1 win

 
Top Performers

• Illinois Wesleyan
  • Bella Mulder
    • 2/3 at the plate
    • Six RBI
    • Two HR
    • Walk
  • Reagan Hassel
    • 2/5 at the plate
    • Two RBI
    • Two runs scored
    • Stolen base
  • Addy Wells
    • 2/3 at the plate
    • RBI
    • Stolen base
  • Katelyn Klever
    • 2.0 IP
    • Save (1)
    • One hit allowed
    • No runs allowed
• No. 19 UW-Osh Kosh
  • Reagan Hassel
    • 2/3 at the plate
    • RBI
    • 2B
  • Addy Wells
    • 1/3 at the plate
  • Liz Kruckenberg
    • 1/3 at the plate
  • Stephanie Kiefer
    • 1/2 at the plate

 
Notes/Streaks

• Wartburg is now 3-6 all-time against Illinois Wesleyan and moves to 4-2 against UW-Osh Kosh
  • First time in program history with back-to-back wins over IWU
  • The Knights are now 0-3 against top-25 ranked opponents this season
• Mulder recorded her first collegiate multi-HR game and marked a new career-high RBI total in game (six)
  • Has now hit three home runs in her past four games
  • Four home runs this season
  • Six career home runs
• Dyer is now 2-1 in pitching decisions after picking up wins in back-to-back appearances against IWU
• With two more multi-hit games for Hassel today, her season total moves to 11 (team best)
  • Kruckenberg, Wells, Mulder and Hassel all finished game one with two hits
• First career save for Klever
  • First save of the season for the Knights
• Mulder (28) and Hassel (26) lead the Knights in RBI so far this season
• Fifth runner caught stealing for Alexis Larson this season
• UW-Osh Kosh held Wartburg to a season-low five hits
  • Only the fourth time this season a team has recorded five or more hits against Kiran Sanford over 11 appearances

 
Next Time Out
The Knights will be in action next on Wednesday, Apr. 1 for their American Rivers Conference opener against No. 13 Simpson College at 3 & 5 p.m.