MARION, Ind. – Thursday afternoon turned into a showcase for freshman Miranda Wehrle, as she helped Indiana Wesleyan University softball to a doubleheader sweep of League foe Bethel College. Wehrle supplied the hat trick in game one with three home runs in a 12-5 win. IWU battled Bethel back and forth for seven innings.
Wehrle capped the night off with a grand slam in the bottom fourth, giving IWU the eventual 12-4 win in six innings.
Alex Springer was the last Wildcat to hit three bombs in one game, doing so on April 27, 2015 against Grace College during her freshman campaign. Kristen Exposito was the last Wildcat to hit four home runs during a doubleheader, coming against Grace College on April 18, 2018.
TOP OF THE LIST
• Lauren Buckley became the all-time leader in stolen bases yesterday, surpassing Kelsey Kooistra, who held the record at 108 stolen bases. Buckley extended her record to 113 after coming away with five stolen bases today.
GAME 1
• Four or more Wildcats strung together two hits in the game, combining for a total of 11 hits on 12 runs.
• Wehrle led all Wildcats with six RBI’s, while Addie Benham and Aubrie Eckert knocked in two. Lauren Buckey and Trinity Medina both mustered one.
• BC stranded eight Pilots on base, while IWU left just two.
• Addie Benham knocked in her seventh home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh giving IWU the 8-2 lead.
GAME 2
• Kira Madl ended the game a single short of the cycle, tripling in the second, homering in the fourth, and doubling in the fifth. Madl earned a walk in her final at-bat, scoring the winning run.
• Benham followed suit in game two, going yard in the bottom of the first driving in Trinity Medina and Wehrle.
• Beham and Wehrle drove in four runs apiece, while Madl scored two and McKenzie Brown and Aubrie Eckert each pushed one across.
• Mckenzey Ridge went the distance in game two, striking out four while allowing just one earned run.
BUCKLEY PERSPECTIVE
My goal has been to steward my gift of speed from God to bring glory to Him. I like stealing bases because it puts our team in potential scoring opportunities.
WEHRLE PERSPECTIVE
• Coach Babinski always tells us confidence is a choice, and I made sure tonight that confidence was always in my head. My goal is to always help the team out because they put in a lot of work, and do whatever they can to get on base and that pushes me. Moving forward I need to keep focusing on having confidence because every night won’t be this way.
NEXT TIME OUT
• IWU will host Spring Arbor on April 2 with the first pitch of the doubleheader slated for 4:00 p.m.
• The previous doubleheader scheduled on the road against Mount Vernon has now been moved to April 19 instead of March 29.