Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

JUCO softball regional begins Wednesday

The NJCAA Region XI-B softball tournament that was postponed by rain last week and has been rescheduled for this Wednesday through Friday  at Kirkwood Community College.

Kirkwood (49-4) will face Southwestern (7-26) in the first game Wednesday at 2 p.m., followed by Iowa Lakes (33-14) against Ellsworth (16-35) at 4 p.m.

If Kirkwood stays in the winners bracket, the Eagles will play again Thursday at 2 p.m. and Friday at noon.

The regional is a double-elimination tournament. The winner advances to a district tournament next week.

WEDNESDAY

2 p.m. - Kirkwood vs Southwestern
4 p.m. - Iowa Lakes vs Ellsworth

THURSDAY

Noon - Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
2 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
4 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs Loser Game 4

FRIDAY

Noon - Championship Game
2 p.m. - Championship Game (if necessary)

Long stars as Eagles split with NIACC

MASON CITY - Peyton Long and the Kirkwood Eagles are coming back from a cold, wet weekend in Mason City with a chance to win the ICCAC conference title in Cedar Rapids this week.

Long sparkled on the mound Saturday as the Eagles topped NIACC, 10-2, in the first game of a league doubleheader.

Long tossed a complete game and allowed two earned runs on five hits, with 10 strikeouts and three walks. The freshman from Des Moines raised his record to 6-1, giving him the most wins on the staff.

NIACC won the second game, 10-6.

The split left Kirkwood with a 13-7 record in the conference, good for a virtual tie for first place with Southeastern in the compact league standings.

Southeastern leads the race by percentage points with a 12-6 record heading into a doubleheader with DMACC on Sunday. Kirkwood will be hosting Southeastern in a four-game series this Friday and Saturday in what could be a showdown for the title, but three other teams are still in the hunt as well.

Read more...

Kramer stars as Eagles tie for ICCAC lead

MASON CITY - Ross Kramer had socked only one home run all season for  the Kirkwood Eagles heading into Friday's doubleheader at NIACC, but  that changed dramatically.

Kramer belted three homers and knocked in six runs as the Eagles  topped NIACC, 10-6, in the first game of their ICCAC conference  doubleheader at Mason City.

NIACC rallied to win the second game, 3-2, in 10 innings, but the  split was good enough to lift Kirkwood into a tie for the conference  lead with six games left in the race.

Kramer, a freshman from Urbandale, collected a grand slam and two solo  shots in the first game. Spencer Wiskus, a freshman from Iowa City,  also hit a homer and drove in four runs for the Eagles.

Porter Hummel picked up the victory with five innings in relief.

Kirkwood led, 2-0, heading into the bottom of the ninth in the second  game, needing three outs to sweep the twinbill and take over sole  possession of first place in the league. NIACC scored twice in the  bottom of the ninth and pushed across the winning run with one out in  the 10th for the victory.

Read more...

Kirkwood golfers claim Monmouth Invy

MONMOUTH, Ill. - The Kirkwood golf team turned the Gibson Woods Course into its personal playground Friday.

The final round of the Fighting Scot Invitational was rained out Saturday and the Eagles were declared the champions.

J.D. Goodfellow and Niall Powell fired rounds of 3-under-par 68 as Kirkwood took a 13-shot lead after the first round of the tournament  Friday in Monmouth, Ill.

Goodfellow and Powell finished in a three-way tie for first place. Jake Sevcik of Kirkwood shot a 2-under 69 and placed fourth.

Kirkwood shot 4-under 280 as a team. Black Hawk College placed second at 293.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Kirkwood 280, 2. Black Hawk 293, 3. Iowa Wesleyan 297, 4. Augustana 302, 5. Monmouth 312, 6. Carl Sandburg 320, 7. Black Hawk Gold 324, 8. Illinois College 331, 9. Monmouth Red 332, 10. Knox 333, 11. North  Central 346.

KIRKWOOD: J.D. Goodfellow 68, Niall Powell 68, Jake Sevcik 69, Louis Flynn 72, Charlie Hartwig 72, Max Thrune 72, Jordan Even 75.

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.

Read more...

Kirkwood baseball sweeps Iowa Lakes

The Kirkwood Eagles have put themselves in position to win the ICCAC conference baseball title this season.

Now they have to finish the job.

Kirkwood swept a doubleheader from Iowa Lakes, 8-5 and 8-7, Sunday at the Kirkwood field and is just one game out of first place in the  ICCAC standings with eight games left.

Southeastern leads the league with a 12-4 record, followed by Kirkwood (11-5), NIACC (10-6), Iowa Central (12-8), DMACC (11-9), Ellsworth (3-13) and Iowa Lakes (1-15).

Kirkwood finishes the conference race with a four-game series at NIACC April 29-30, then is scheduled to host Southeastern in a four-game set May 5-6 in a possible showdown for the title.

The Eagles won the nightcap against Iowa Lakes Sunday on a walk-off homer by Lorenzo Elion with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, snapping a 7-7 tie.

Kirkwood trailed in the nightcap 4-1, but the Eagles battled back and took a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Ross Kramer collected an  RBI double to snap a 4-4 tie and give Kirkwood a 5-4 lead, then Cal Clark belted a two-run homer for a 7-4 margin.

Iowa Lakes responded with three runs in the top of the ninth, however, to tie the game at 7-7.

Read more...

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.

Read more...

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.

Kirkwood golfers win Blue Boy title

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Niall Powell captured medalist honors with his second consecutive round of 1-under-par 71 Saturday as the Kirkwood Eagles ran away with the team championship of the Blue Boy  Invitational at the Rail Golf Course.

Powell finished at 2-under 142 for the tournament. Charles Hartwig of  Kirkwood finished second at 2-over 146 and Louis Flynn of Kirkwood placed third at 3-over 147.

Jake Sevcik of Kirkwood played as an individual and tied for fourth at  151. His score did not count in the team standings.

Kirkwood won the tournament by 40 strokes over Lewis & Clark Community  College.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Kirkwood 586, 2. Lewis & Clark 626, 3. Monmouth 634, 4. Blackburn  637, 5. (tie) Illinois College 643, Lake Forest 643, 7. Knox 687, 8. North Central Missouri 703, 9. Concordia 720, 10. Westminster 724, 11.  Greenville 870.

KIRKWOOD TEAM: 1. Niall Powell 71-71=142, 2. Charles Hartwig  71-75=146, 3. Louis Flynn 78-69=147, 7. Jordan Even 73-80=153, 20. Max Thrune 82-78=160.

KIRKWOOD INDIVIDUALS: 4. Jake Sevcik 74-77=151, 11. JD Goodfellow 77-80=157.