Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No. 14 KCC baseball wins twice

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The red-hot Kirkwood baseball team won a squeaker and a laugher Thursday.

The 14th-ranked Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 5-4 walk-off victory over the College of Rhode Island in their first game in Winter Haven, Fla.

Ellison Hanna scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch as Ross Kramer drew a walk.

Kirkwood (12-3) rolled to a 17-1 victory over Dakota County Technical College in its second game Thursday with a strong effort on the pitching mound by Cal Stalzer.

Korry Howell went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs in the 5-4 victory over Rhode Island. Taylor Jackson socked a solo homer, Hanna scored twice and Kramer picked up an RBI.

Will Rodruck pitched three innings in relief for the victory, allowing no hits and one unearned run with four strikeouts. Cameron Leff tossed the first four innings for the Eagles.

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No. 14 KCC baseball smashes foe, 22-0

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Ross Kramer picked a good day to pitch for the Kirkwood baseball team.

The 14th-ranked Eagles erupted for 14 runs in the fourth inning Wednesday and demolished the Ontario Nationals, 22-0, in five innings on their spring trip to Florida.

Kramer tossed a one-hit shutout for Kirkwood (10-3). He struck out eight batters and walked two.

Korry Howell, Izaya Fullard and Manny Olutunde had three hits for the Eagles. Howell, Fullard, Ellison Hanna and Max McCay had three RBIs.

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No. 3 KCC softball splits twinbill

MIAMI, Okla. - Two of the top junior college softball teams in the country split a doubleheader Wednesday in Oklahoma with both teams scoring the same number of runs.

Kirkwood nipped Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in the first game, 7-6, and the hosts trimmed the Eagles in the nightcap, 4-3.

Kirkwood is ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA Division II poll with an 18-2 record. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M is ranked No. 13 in NJCAA Division I.

Rachel Stewart went 2-for-4 with a double, two-run homer and four RBIs in the first game. Lauren Kuch was 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs.

Audra Bridenstine was 2-for-3 in the opener with two runs and an RBI. Skylar Ryan also drove in a run. DoniRae Mayhew pitched six innings for the victory and Natalie Halvorson tossed the final inning for a save.

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KCC gets No. 2 seed for national tourney

Defending national champion Kirkwood was seeded second for the 16-team national tournament in pairings released Tuesday morning by the NJCAA.

Coach Kim Muhl's second-ranked Eagles (31-3) meet No. 15 seed Gogebic Community College (17-13) out of Ironwood, Mich. at 3 p.m. next Tuesday in the first round at Pioneer Pavillion in Harrison, Ark.

A win in the opener would move Kirkwood into the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. on Wednesday against the North Arkansas/Bryant & Stratton, Wisc. winner.

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Mayhew stars as KCC softball rolls

HARRISON, Ark. - DoniRae Mayhew belted three home runs and drove in nine runs Monday as the Kirkwood Eagles slammed North Arkansas, 14-4 and 26-3, to sweep a doubleheader in Arkansas.

Mayhew went 7-for-8 in the twinbill with three doubles, three homers and seven runs scored. She was 4-for-4 with all three homers in the 14-4 victory and was also the winning pitcher.

Rachel Stewart went 5-for-10 in the doubleheader with a three-run homer and four RBIs. Skylar Ryan was 5-for-6 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs.

Hannah Mausser was 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. She also pitched an inning for the first time this season. Lauren Kuch was 4-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and six runs.

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KCC baseball falls to Indian River

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - The Kirkwood baseball team suffered its first loss on its spring trip to Florida Monday with a 6-2 setback to Indian River State College in Fort Pierce.

Peyton Long pitched 4 2/3 innings and was touched for four runs, but the Eagles committed four errors in the ballgame and all of the runs against Long were unearned.

Korry Howell and Joel Thompson collected RBIs for Kirkwood (9-3). The Eagles had only six hits in the contest.

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KCC women heading back to nationals

Awal Ajak had to sit and watch her Kirkwood teammates win the national title last year after suffering a torn ACL late in the season, but now she's got a chance to finish her junior college career in style.

Arika Wooldridge nearly quit basketball last year after one unhappy season at Winona State, but now she has a chance to help Kirkwood climb to top of the junior colleges again.

So do all the happy Eagles, who are extremely excited about their opportunity to win back-to-back titles.

The second-ranked Eagles rallied for a 65-52 victory over 12th-ranked NIACC in the regional finals Sunday at Johnson Hall to earn a trip to the NJCAA Division II national tournament March 20-24 in Harrison, Ark.

"I'm extremely happy right now," said Ajak, a sophomore from Des Moines who contributed 10 points Sunday. "Even though I didn't make it last year, I was still happy to be on a team that wanted to make it happen and wanted to win the national title.

"I'm extremely overwhelmed with emotion right now. It was a lot of pain, but it paid off."

Wooldridge, who attended high school at Center Point-Urbana, got hurt near the beginning of the season at Winona State last year and did not like being so far away from home in Minnesota. She thought seriously about quitting the game, but Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl convinced her to give it another shot and play closer to home and family.

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KCC softball raises mark to 15-1

JOPLIN, Mo. - The Kirkwood softball team finished with a perfect 6-0 record at the Crowder Bash by winning two more games Sunday in Joplin, Mo.

The fifth-ranked Eagles blanked Labette, 5-0, in their first game and defeated Murray State, 11-4, in their second contest.

Rachel Stewart went 7-for-9 in the two games with three doubles, four runs and five RBIs. She was 2-for-4 against Labette and 5-for-5 against Murray State.

Monika Bevans was 5-for-7 Sunday with a two-run homer and four RBIs. She also walked twice and scored three runs. Hannah Mausser finished 4-for-6 with two walks.

DoniRae Mayhew took a perfect game into the sixth inning against Labette and finished with a three-hitter with three strikeouts.

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Kirkwood baseball sweeps Muskegon

VERO BEACH, Fla. - The Kirkwood baseball team drubbed Muskegon in a doubleheader Sunday, 13-2 and 14-0, on the second day of its spring trip to Florida.

The Eagles (9-2) got strong pitching, lots of hitting and sparkling defense in Vero Beach.

Adam Ketelsen tossed five shutout innings in the 14-0 victory in Game 2. He allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Ellison Hanna went 2-for-3 with a double, four RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases in the second game. Izaya Fullard and Joel Thompson drove in three runs for the Eagles, while Kal Youngquist and Cal Clark had two RBIs.

Taylor Jackson went 2-for-3 with a double, triple and four runs in the opener. Korry Howell scored twice.

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