AMES, Iowa -- Top-seeded Mount Mercy won both games on the first day of the 2010 Midwest Collegiate Conference Softball Tournament Final Four, moving into Sunday's championship round for a national tournament berth.
The Mustangs opened with a 5-1 victory over fourth-seeded Waldorf. They scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning on RBI singles by sophomore second baseman Rosie Jones and senior shortstop Brianna Williams and a two-run double by sophomore catcher Briana DeFlavio.
Sophomore left fielder Therese O'Shea hit a solo home run in the fourth in support of sophomore right-hander Becca Smith. Smith only allowed two hits, which came back-to-back in the sixth inning and led to Waldorf's only run. She struck out 10 to break her own single-season strikeout record of 255 set as a freshman.
The Mustangs (35-9) pounded out 11 hits off of two Grand View pitchers and held on to defeat the third-seeded Vikings, 6-4. Mount Mercy struck first in the third inning, getting a leadoff triple by senior center fielder Sheena Canady and a sacrifice fly by Jones. Williams and sophomore first baseman Liz Hill hit two straight doubles for Mount Mercy's second run in the frame.
In the fourth, junior third baseman Jessica Magnuson led off with a double and eventually scored on a passed ball before senior right fielder Emily Madsen drilled a two-run double that scored Jones and Canady to give the Mustangs a 5-0 lead.
Grand View answered with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth and got within 6-4 in their last at-bat, but Smith held off the Vikings to improve to 25-3 on the season. She gave up three earned runs on six hits while striking out nine to give her a school-record 268 strikeouts this year. Smith also holds the career strikeout mark with 523.
Needing just one win for their first national tournament berth since 1990, the Mustangs await the winner of Sunday's 11:00 a.m. elimination game between Grand View and second-seeded William Penn. Mount Mercy faces the Vikings or Lady Statesmen at 1:30 p.m. at Southwest Field on the Iowa State campus. If necessary, the third game of the day would take place approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 1:30 contest.
