No. 20 Trojans sweep Iowa Central

MASON CITY - The No. 20 (NJCAA Division II) NIACC softball team swept an ICCAC doubleheader from Iowa Central Sunday afternoon on the extremely windy NIACC campus.

NIACC (20-8 overall, 4-2 in the ICCAC) won the first game 8-7 in eight innings and completed the sweep with a 2-0 victory in the second game. Sophomore right-hander Laken Lienhard gained the win in both contests.

The first game win by the Trojans snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Tritons (15-14, 4-2).

in the first game, NIACC jumped out to a 7-0 lead after four innings. The Trojans plated five runs in the first inning and pushed across two runs in the fourth inning.

Iowa Central scored two runs in the sixth inning and tied the game with five runs in the seventh inning.

Lienhard (9-2) relieved Brynn Stalberger and pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

The Trojans won the opener in the bottom of the eighth inning when Brynnlin Kroymann scored on a Tritons' throwing error with one out.

Kroymann was 2 for 4 and scored three runs. McPoland was 1 for 4 with three RBIs and Katy Olive was 1 for 3 with two walks and two stolen bases.

In the second game, Lienhard tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout. Lienhard struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

Lienhard set the Tritons down in order in the first, third, fifth and sixth innings.

It was the fifth complete-game shutout of the season for Lienhard and seventh of her career. It was the fourth time this season that Lienhard collected at least seven strikeouts.

NIACC scored both of its runs in the sixth inning. Olive drove home Taya Tucker with a triple and Olive scored on a single by Kroymann, who collected two hits.

With two wins Sunday, the Trojans reached the 20-win plateau for the third time in the last 10 seasons. The Trojans were 30-18 in 2019 and 20-31 in 2016.

NIACC and Iowa Central complete their four-game series Monday with a twinbill on the NIACC campus starting at 2 p.m.