Burlington, Iowa - After a weekend in Alabama, the 16th-ranked ICC Softball team (3-4) has returned north for a weekend, playing in the comforts of a dome at the Southeastern Iowa Dome Tournament at FunCity Turf in Burlington. The Cougars were able to get a plethora of runs on the board in a split for the day that saw them nearly take down the nation's third-ranked team in Des Moines Area. 

#3 DES MOINES AREA 6, #16 ICC COUGARS 4
The opening game of the day got off to a bit of a slow start, with neither team able to get a run on the scoreboard through two and a half innings. However, a sac fly, single, and double turned into a 4-0 lead for the third-ranked Bears.

ICC made a dent, with Allie Scrivner grounding an RBI single into right field, scoring Marley Williamson. Des Moines Area responded, drawing a bases-loaded walk, followed by a sac fly to put the Bears up 6-1. 

The Cougars made a comeback effort, starting when Kylie Hyde legged out an infield single, scoring both Alyssa Beltran and Scrivner to make it 6-3 Des Moines Area in the middle of the sixth. 

Needing a stop defensively, Kiersten Manning locked it down in the circle for the bottom of the sixth, allowing just one base runner on a single. That set the table for ICC to make one last push at a win with three outs to work with. 

After Savanah Clifton singled and Manning reached on an error, it put the Cougars in a golden position: runners on the corners, go-ahead run at the plate. They were able to get one run across on a Scrivner sac fly to score Gracie White. Alas, that would set the 6-4 final score, as the other batters were both strikeouts to stop ICC's efforts short of a big early-season W. 

Hitting:
Scrivner | 1 hit, 2 RBI
Hyde | 1 hit, 2 RBI
Beltran | 3 walks

Pitching:
Manning | 6 innings, 6 strikeouts

#16 ICC COUGARS 8, NORTH PLATTE 3
A short turnaround perhaps was just was the Cougars needed. After competing right with a top-three team, ICC got right to work in game two. The game's first five batters all reached: Olivia Stirnaman (double), Olivia Drish (RBI dobule), Savanah Clifton (walk), Kiersten Manning (RBI double), and Alyssa Beltran (Two-Run Single). That onslaught had the Cougars leading 4-0 before an out could be recorded. 

After an inning of 'silence', ICC would expand their lead by way of an RBI groundout off the bat of Clifton, scoring Drish. 

The theme of the game continued with what nearly became a run-rule effort. In the fourth inning, Gracie White singled, scoring Allie Scrivner, making it 6-0. Putting the run rule in play was an RBI groundout from Stirnaman and RBI double from Drish. 

As one may imagine, that 8-0 lead would more than enough. Although the Cougars were unable to secure the run-rule win, it did provide enough cushion for the pitching. Olivia Drish had the Cougars' first 10+ strikeout game of 2023, taking out 12 Bears batters. Bridget Gilroy came in and held it down in the last frame.

Hitting:
Drish | 2 hits, 2 RBI
Beltran | 2 hits, 2 RBI
Manning | 2 hits, 1 RBI
Hyde | 2 hits
Stirnaman | 1 hit, 1 RBI
White | 1 hit, 1 RBI
Clifton | 1 RBI, 1 walk

Pitching:
Drish | 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 12 strikeouts
Gilroy | 1 inning, 0 walks

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Day Two - Southeastern Iowa Dome Tournament
Southeastern Iowa Blackhawks (1-1)
Saturday, February 25th - 11:00 AM
@ FunCity Turf - Burlington, Iowa
Watch Live & Live Stats (GameChanger)