Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kinnaird gets her K's for Eagles

Lexi Kinnaird does not want to jinx herself by peeking at the national stats for junior college pitchers, but she'd certainly like the numbers if she took a look.

The Kirkwood sophomore leads all NJCAA Division II hurlers by a wide margin in strikeouts with 154 K's in 100 innings and she ranks second in the country with 15 wins.

They do not keep a stat for strikeout-to-walk ratio, but if they did Kinnaird would lead that category as well. Remarkably, she's walked only seven batters in 100 innings, an average of one pass every 14  frames.

Kinnaird (15-2, 1.61 ERA) showed pinpoint control again Thursday as the second-ranked Eagles rallied to top Southeastern Community College, 4-2, in the first game of a doubleheader at Kirkwood.

The Eagles (31-2) also rallied for an 8-4 victory in the nightcap.

Kinnaird fanned eight batters and did not walk a soul in the 4-2 verdict in Game 1 for Coach Joe Yegge's club.

Kinnaird struck out 163 batters and walked 43 in 160 innings last year, so she's well ahead of that pace this season. Her control was good last year, but now it's fantastic.

She said she's not doing anything different this year, but the numbers have been phenomenal.

"It's really something that Yegge has pushed from the beginning, pounding the zone and getting ahead early," she said. "So I think that's been my thought process for every at-bat.

"That's really helped me a lot this year, but nothing special."

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No. 2 Eagles score 49 runs in twinbill

IOWA FALLS - The second-ranked Kirkwood softball team overpowered Ellsworth, 19-0 and 30-2, in an ICCAC conference doubleheader in Iowa Falls Wednesday.

The Eagles scored 49 runs, collected 47 hits and belted five home runs in 10 innings.

Kirkwood raised its records to 29-2 overall and 9-1 in the league. Ellsworth fell to 7-20 overall and 1-11 in the league.

Just about all the Eagles participated in the onslaught. Taylor Nearad went 8-for-10 with seven RBIs to top the charts, but she was hardly alone.

Morgan Frost went 7-for-8 with three RBIs. Monika Bevans was 5-for-9 with six RBIs. Maddie Hansen was 4-for-8 with six RBIs. Megan Kublik and Angie McBeain were 4-for-6 with five RBIs.

Lexi Ferrari was 4-for-7 with three RBIs.DoniRae Mayhew and Audra Bridenstine had four RBIs.

Nearad, Bevans, Hansen, McBeain and Mayhew hit home runs. Nearad and Mayhew have 10 homers this season. Hansen has nine homers, McBeain eight and Bevans five.

Lexi Kinnaird (14-2, 1.58 ERA) and Mayhew (4-0, 2.45 ERA) were the winning pitchers. Kinnaird tossed a one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in the 19-0 victory in the opener.

GAME 1

Kirkwood    501 49 - 19 23 0
Ellsworth   000 00 - 0 1 0

W - Kinnaird. L - Brady.

GAME 2

Kirkwood    90(11) (10)0 - 30 24 1
Ellsworth   011 00 - 2 7 4

W - Mayhew. L - Kramer.

Long helps Eagles split with DMACC

The Kirkwood Eagles needed a starting pitcher to go deep into a ballgame to salvage the final game of a four-game series with DMACC Tuesday at the Kirkwood field.

Peyton Long answered the call.

Long tossed eight strong innings as the Eagles trimmed DMACC, 4-2, in the second game of Tuesday's twinbill.

DMACC won the first game, 5-2.

Long allowed only one run on six hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. He threw 109 pitches and gave the bullpen a much-needed rest in  the last game of the series.

Kirkwood lost the first three games of the series, and none of their starting pitchers lasted more than 3 1/3 innings in any of those games.

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No. 2 Eagles split with Iowa Lakes

ESTHERVILLE - The Kirkwood Eagles committed five errors Sunday and lost the first game of their doubleheader against Iowa Lakes, 7-5, in conference action in Estherville.

The second-ranked Eagles bounced back with a 12-0 victory in the nightcap on a one-hitter by Angie McBeain.

Kirkwood (27-2, 7-1) rallied from a 5-3 deficit and tied the opener, 5-5, with two runs in the top of the sixth, but the 17th-ranked Lakers (20-7, 7-3) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and held on for the victory against Kirkwood ace Lexi Kinnaird.

Taylor Nearad hit home runs in both games for Kirkwood, giving her nine round-trippers this season. DoniRae Mayhew also belted her ninth homer for the Eagles in the doubleheader.

Maddie Hansen went 4-for-4 for the Eagles in the 7-5 setback. Lexi Ferrari was 3-for-4. Nearad was 2-for-3 and drove in three runs. Morgan Frost had two RBIs in the opener.

Kinnaird (13-2, 1.67 ERA)  pitched a complete game for the Eagles. She was touched for nine hits and five earned runs.

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KCC golfers 3rd at Spring Classic

The Kirkwood men's golf team sat in third place Sunday after the first round of the Eagle Spring Classic at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion.

Indian Hills Community College leads the 36-hole tournament at 2-over-par 290. Bethany College of Kansas is second at 293, with Kirkwood third at 15-over 303.

The final round is scheduled for Monday.

Jackson Bugdalski of Indian Hills took the 18-hole lead with a 1-under-par 71. Jordan Even and Louis Flynn of Kirkwood are tied for 11th at 3-over 75.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Indian Hills 290, 2. Bethany 293, 3. Kirkwood 303, 4. (tie) Bethany  "B" 313, Kirkwood "B" 313, 6. Viterbo 317, 7. DMACC 323, 8. NIACC 330, 9. Viterbo "B" 334, 10. Concordia (Wis.) 337, 11. NIACC "B" 338.

KIRKWOOD: Jordan Even 75, Louis Flynn 75, Charles Hartwig 76, Luke Winker 76, Jake Sevcik 77, Niall Powell 77, JD Goodfellow 77, Max Thrune 78, Josh McCormick 82, Kedrick Bemiss 89.

Kirkwood baseball swept by DMACC

The Kirkwood Eagles spent a long, empty day at the ballpark Saturday.

The Eagles were swept by DMACC, 12-4 and 10-8, in a conference doubleheader that lasted nearly six hours.

The second game went 10 innings and ended a disappointing afternoon for the home team.

The 12-4 blowout in the first game was the first lopsided loss for  Kirkwood all season. The Eagles have dropped nine games this season, with six of the losses by one run and two games by two runs.

Kirkwood owned an 8-5 lead after five innings of the second game, but DMACC tied the score with three runs in the top of the sixth and it stayed deadlocked until the Bears pushed across two runs in the 10th.

The Eagles had the game-winning run on second base with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded Korry Howell on base.

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Kinnaird sparkles as No. 2 Eagles roll

MASON CITY - Lexi Kinnaird tossed a two-hit shutout Saturday as the second-ranked Kirkwood Eagles blanked NIACC, 12-0, in the first game  of an ICCAC conference doubleheader in Mason City.

Kirkwood also rolled in the second game, 16-2. Both contests lasted only five innings due to the mercy rule.

Kinnaird (13-1, 1.37 ERA) struck out eight batters in the opener, giving her 130 strikeouts and only six walks in 82 innings. She leads all pitchers in NJCAA Division II with the 130 whiffs.

Maddie Hansen belted her eighth home run of the season in the 12-0 victory and Morgan Frost hit her third homer. Frost and Audra Bridenstine drove in three runs.

Lexi Ferrari, Taylor Nearad, Angie McBeain, Chaise Light and Bridenstine had two hits. Ferrari drove in two runs in the opener.

Monika Bevans socked her fourth home run and drove in five runs in the 16-2 verdict in the second game. Nearad went 3-for-5 and drove in two  runs. Megan Kublik had three RBIs. Ferrari, Hansen, Frost, McBeain and  Bevans had two hits.

McBeain (10-0, 1.92 ERA) was touched for one unearned run in four innings in the second game. She struck out eight batters.

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Nearad socks 3 homers as Eagles sweep

MADISON, Wis. - Taylor Nearad belted three home runs and drove in  seven runs Friday as the second-ranked Kirkwood softball team swept a doubleheader from Madison College, 12-0 and 9-0.

Nearad, the 2016 National Player of the Year, hit two home runs and  drove in five runs in the first game. Maddie Hansen also hit a home run and went 3-for-4 in the opener.

Lexi Ferrari went 3-for-3 and scored three runs in the opener. Audra Bridenstine drove in three runs. DoniRae Mayhew, Monika Bevans and Bridenstine had two hits.

Lexi Kinnaird (12-1, 1.45 ERA) pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in the first game. She leads NJCAA Division II with 122 strikeouts in 77 innings.

Angie McBeain belted a grand slam in the 9-0 victory in the second game. Ferrari, Nearad, Mayhew, Morgan Frost and Bridenstine all had two hits. Nearad hit a homer and drove in two runs. Frost also had two  RBIs.

McBeain (9-0, 1.94 ERA) tossed a four-hitter with five strikeouts.

Kirkwood raised its record to 24-1 heading into weekend doubleheaders at NIACC Saturday and at Iowa Lakes Sunday.

GAME 1

Kirkwood    100 506 - 12 16 0
Madison     000 000 - 0 2 0

GAME 2

Kirkwood    530 01 - 9 11 0
Madison     000 00 - 0 4 2

KCC baseball team slugs Ellsworth again

IOWA FALLS - The Kirkwood baseball team pounded Ellsworth, 8-2 and 18-6, in a conference doubleheader in Iowa Falls Tuesday.

The Eagles also belted Ellsworth in a twinbill Monday, 16-1 and 9-0, putting the composite score for the four-game series at 51-9.

Tyler Bordner belted two home runs and drove in three runs in the 8-2 victory in the opener. Ellison Hanna also hit a home run and drove in  two runs. Korry Howell had two hits and two RBIs.

Bordner, Howell and Lorenzo Elion hit home runs in the 18-6 victory in the nightcap. Elion was 3-for-4 and drove in four runs. Howell was  3-for-5 with three RBIs and four runs.

Bordner drove in three runs in the second game. Cal Clark went 3-for-5 and scored twice. General McArthur had two hits and Colin Kreiter drove in two runs.

Kirkwood raised its records to 18-7 overall and 4-0 in the conference. Ellsworth fell to 2-24 and 0-4.

GAME 1

Kirkwood     003 320 0 - 8 9 1
Ellsworth    000 000 2 - 2 9 1

GAME 2

Kirkwood     030 034 8 - 18 16 1
Ellsworth    110 301 0 - 6 9 4