Four innings into Tuesday's first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader between Jefferson and Dubuque Senior it looked like the J-Hawks were going to need to sneak out another close game as their offense was again silent.

That all changed in the fifth inning when the J-Hawks' bats came back to life. Jefferson scored five runs in the final two innings, capped off by a four-run sixth for a 6-2 win. Juniors Carson Burgart and Rachel Sedlacek sealed the win with back-to-back home runs in the sixth.

The J-Hawks continued to hammer the ball in the nightcap to complete the sweep, winning 12-2 in five innings.

“I am seeing the ball well and have more confidence at the plate since the Xavier game,” Sedlacek said. The eighth-ranked J-Hawks swept Xavier on June 7 and Sedlacek was 5-for-9 with a pair of home runs.

She hit two more home runs Tuesday and was 4-for-7 with five RBIs. Burgart broke out of a slump and was 4-for-6.

“I relaxed at the plate,” Burgart said.

Sedlacek's two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the second inning of the nightcap erased a 1-0 deficit.

The Rams took an early lead getting a run in the top of the second after a leadoff double by AJ Medinger followed by a RBI by Piper, who reached on an error. The J-Hawks answered in the bottom half of the second when Sedlacek hit a bases loaded two out double, scoring two.

Senior tied it, 2-2, in the third. But from there it was all J-Hawks. They scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth, and then poured on six more in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early by the 10-run rule.

Senior Katie Naber, making her second start after a suspension to start the season, scattered five hits and picked up the win for the J-Hawks (11-2, 7-0 MVC).

“Katie didn’t throw one of her better games, but it is just her second game back,” Jefferson Coach Larry Niemeyer said. “I am sure she will pitch better tomorrow.”

Jefferson hosts No. 5 Iowa City West in a doubleheader Wednesday.

In game one,  junior ace Hannah Petersen struck out 14 in route to a three-hit shutout.

“My rise ball was really working and I had great control,” said Petersen, who was drawing double duty pitching both games of doubleheaders in Naber's absence. “It is great to have Katie back, it makes it much easier to focus on the first game.

The J-Hawks gave Petersen an early lead getting a run in the first off a pair of Rams errors. They added another in the fifth when Petersen's sacrifice bunt scored Sedlacek, who had doubled to lead off the inning.

Two runs was all Petersen needed, but she got four more in the sixth for good measure.

“I thought she threw very well,” Niemeyer said. “I was disappointed in our hitting early, Rachel’s home run gave us a little cushion at the end.”

Hannah McInerney returned from a broken wrist and went 2-for-4 with a double.

“Carson (Burgart) had a nice home run and triple,” Niemeyer said. “Hannah (McInerney) had a nice game. It is hard to get timing back when coming off an injury; she hit the ball hard tonight though.”

GAME 1

DUBUQUE SENIOR (0)
Katie Sommer, SS, 3 0 2 0, Natalie Jacobsmeier, LF, 2 0 0 0, Kristie Sommer, C, 3 0 0 0, Haley Zenner, RF, 3 0 0 0, AJ Medinger, P, 3 0 0 0, Natalie Blatz, 3B, 3 0 0 0, Carrie Piper, DP, 3 0 0 0, Jackie Kremer, 1B, 2 0 0 0, Liz Reuter, CF, 2 0 1 0, Kennedy Carber, 2B, 0 0 0 0. Totals 24 0 3 0.

JEFFERSON (6)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 4 3 2 1, Kailey Drake, CF, 4 0 1 0, Hannah Petersen, P, 1 0 0 1, Ashley Madsen, CR, 0 0 0 0, Kenna Fry, 1B, 4 0 0 0, Dani Stromert, 1B, 0 0 0 0, Maddie Koolbeck, DP, 2 0 1 0, Hannah McInerney, PH, 1 1 1 0, Amber Grimm, RF, 1 0 0 0, Maddie Hanson, PH, 1 0 0 0, Maddy Blietz, 3B, 3 1 1 1, Katelyn Holub, 3B, 0 0 0 0, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 2 0 1 0, Carson Burgart, SS, 3 1 1 2, Nicole Marquart, C, 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 6 8 5.

Dubuque Senior 000 000 0 -  0 3 2
Jefferson          100 014 x -  6 8 0
Medinger and Kr. Sommer. Petersen and Marquart. W – Petersen L – Medinger. 2B – Sedlacek, McInerney. HR – Sedlacek, Burgart. SB – Ka. Sommer, Sedlacek 2, Madsen.

GAME 2

DUBUQUE SENIOR (2)
Katie Sommer, SS, 2 0 0 0, Natalie Jacobsmeier, P, 3 0 2 0, Kristie Sommer, C, 2 0 0 0, Haley Zenner, RF, 3 1 0 0, AJ Medinger, 1B, 3 1 2 0, Natalie Blatz, 3B, 3 0 0 0, Carrie Piper, LF, 3 0 0 1, Whitney Putchio, DP, 2 0 1 0, Liz Reuter, CF, 2 0 0 0, Kennedy Carber, 2B, 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 2 5 1.

JEFFERSON (12)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 3 1 2 4, Kailey Drake, RF, 2 0 0 0, Hannah McInerney, 3B, 3 1 1 0, Kenna Fry, 1B, 3 1 0 0, Maddie Koolbeck, DP, 1 1 0 0, Maddy Blietz, PR, 0 0 0 0, Katie Naber, P, 2 0 1 1, Maddie Hanson, PH, 1 1 1 0, Hannah Towns, CR, 0 1 0 0, Carson Burgart, SS, 3 3 3 2, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 4 3 0 1, Nicole Marquart, C, 3 0 1 1, Katelyn Holub, CR, 0 0 0 0, Ashley Madsen, CF, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 12 9 9.

Dubuque Senior 011 000 -  2 5 5
Jefferson          020 316 -  12 9 3
Jacobsmeier, Medinger (6), and Kr. Sommer. Naber and Marquart. W – Naber L – Jacobsmeier. 2B – Medinger, Sedlacek. 3B – Burgart, HR – Sedlacek.