Kirkwood Softball

Kinnaird ties KCC mark for victories

Kirkwood sophomore Lexi Kinnaird has mowed down batters the last two years as one of the top junior college pitchers in the country.

Now she shares a special record.

Kinnaird tied the school mark with her 50th victory Tuesday when the second-ranked Eagles trimmed Indian Hills, 3-2, in a non-conference game at the Kirkwood field.

Indian Hills won the second game, 5-4, and Kinnaird was saddled with the loss in relief.

Kinnaird has compiled a 50-5 record for Kirkwood, matching the school mark for victories set by Amanda Lambrecht, who went 50-4 for the Eagles as their star pitcher in 2010 and 2011.

Kinnaird will get a chance to break the record when she pitches in the regional tournament Friday at Kirkwood.

Kinnaird has been remarkably consistent for the Eagles the past two seasons. She finished with a 25-2 record last year and is 25-3 this year entering the postseason.

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No. 1 Eagles share ICCAC softball title

NORFOLK, Neb. - The Kirkwood softball team should send two dozen roses and a box of chocolates to their friends at Southwestern Community  College in Creston.

Thanks to Southwestern, the Eagles have finished the ICCAC season with a share of the conference title.

It looked like the top-ranked Eagles would finish a game behind  fifth-ranked DMACC in the league standings, but Southwestern upset DMACC on Sunday to open the door for Kirkwood.

Kirkwood obliged by sweeping its conference doubleheader at Northeast Community College Sunday, so Kirkwood and DMACC finished in a tie for  first place with identical 24-2 records.

Southwestern beating DMACC was quite an upset, because Southwestern finished in seventh place in the conference with a 6-22 record. Southwestern beat DMACC in the first game of their doubleheader, 6-2, but DMACC responded with a 10-0 victory in the nightcap.

Kirkwood Coach Joe Yegge has now won eight conference titles (outright or shared) in his 10 years with the Eagles.

Kirkwood swept Northeast, 9-2 and 20-4, on the road in Norfolk, Neb., on Sunday, raising their overall record to 48-3.

Lexi Kinnaird (24-2, 1.24 ERA) allowed one earned run in the 9-2 victory. She allowed four hits, with 12 strikeouts and one walk.

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KCC softball raises record to 46-3

CRESTON - The top-ranked Kirkwood softball team raised its record to 46-3 Saturday by sweeping a conference doubleheader at Southwestern  Community College.

Maddie Hansen hit her 16th home run and Lexi Kinnaird pitched a five-hitter as Kirkwood won the opener, 12-1, in five innings.

Morgan Frost belted her sixth homer and Angie McBeain tossed a one-hitter as the Eagles ran away with the second game, 15-0, in five innings.

Kirkwood is 22-2 in the league and trails DMACC (23-1) by one game in the league standings with two games left for both teams.

Taylor Nearad went 3-for-4 for Kirkwood in the first game. Lexi Ferrari, DoniRae Mayhew, McBeain and Audra Bridenstine had two hits. Mayhew drove in three runs. Hansen, McBeain and Monika Bevans had two  RBIs.

Kinnaird (23-2) struck out six batters and walked two.

Mayhew and Frost had three hits in the second game. Nearad, Hansen, McBeain and Bridenstine had two hits. Nearad, Hansen and Frost drove in three runs.

McBeain (18-1) struck out two batters and walked one.

Southwestern fell to 6-25 overall and 5-21 in the conference.

GAME 1

Kirkwood      153 12 - 12 16 0
Southwestern  000 01 - 1 5 4

W - Kinnaird. L - Schlefen.

GAME 2

Kirkwood      111 57 - 15 17 1
Southwestern  000 00 - 0 1 4

W - McBeain. L - McGuire.

No. 1 Eagles split with No. 5 DMACC

BOONE - The Kirkwood Eagles have the top-ranked softball team in the country, but they'll probably finish as the No. 2 team in their own league.

The Eagles split a doubleheader at DMACC Friday, winning the opener  2-1 and dropping the nightcap 8-5.

The split left DMACC with a 21-1 record in the ICCAC conference with  four games left in the race. Kirkwood is 20-2 and will need help from  another team to win the title.

Kirkwood trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning in the  opener when it broke through with two runs.

Maddie Hansen collected a one-out single and was replaced by  pinch-runner Amanda Pipolo, who stole second to get into scoring position. Morgan Frost delivered a two-out double to tie the game 1-1, then Angie McBeain hit another double to drive in Frost and give the  Eagles a 2-1 edge.

Lexi Kinnaird (22-2, 1.25 ERA) kept DMACC off the board in the bottom  of the sixth and seventh to finish the victory. Kinnaird tossed a five-hitter for the victory.

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