DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Coe College softball team swept the opening two games of an American Rivers Conference series with Dubuque on Friday afternoon. The Kohawks took the opening game 4-2 which featured a Skyler Stookey solo homer, her fifth of the season. In game two, Coe scored four runs in the final three innings to lock up the sweep. The Kohawks got excellent starting pitching in both games from Ellie Thurow and Hannah Ausenhus as the pair picked up their seventh and eighth wins of the season. The sweep moves the Kohawks to 18-8 overall and 13-5 in the A-R-C while the Spartans fall to 18-10 and 7-9 in the league.
Coe bounced back with nine hits in the second game after recording just four in the opener as Kelsey Hora, Natalie Blank and Skyler Stookey all had extra-base hits on the afternoon. Stookey, who was 4-of-7 at the dish, had three RBI in game one to lead the squad while Hora, Madi Parson and Ruby Kappeler all had one in game two. Thurow, the game one starter, went seven innings while scattering four hits and striking out seven batters. Ausenhus, who started game two, worked all seven innings, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while getting 11 flyouts and eight ground outs.
COE 4 - DUBUQUE 2
Coe got the bats going early in the first game of the day, scoring three runs in the first inning which included a two-RBI triple from Stookey. She scored later in the first inning after Parson reached on a Spartan error as Coe took an early 3-0 lead. Dubuque answered in the bottom of the second inning as the first three hitters reached to put pressure on the Kohawks. Cayla Cavanagh then delivered a clutch two-run single to cut into the Kohawk lead. Starting pitcher Ellie Thurow was able to work her way out of the jam, getting the final two batters of the inning to strike out and fly out to keep the score 3-2 Coe. The offense picked Thurow up in the top of the third inning as Stookey crushed her fifth home run of the season to retake a two-run lead. Thurow then took over inside the circle, surrendering just three base runners in the final four innings of the game as she earned her seventh win of the season.
COE 4 - DUBUQUE 1
Both offenses were slow to get started in the first three innings of game two, with only two baserunners reaching for either team. UD took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting three hits in the frame, including an RBI single from Emily Bloomer. The Kohawks responded back in the top of the fifth inning, getting two runs on two hits while taking advantage of two Spartan errors. Shaylee Dodd reached on an error to lead off the inning and later came around to score after Chloe Severson singled. Hora then delivered an RBI double a batter later, scoring Kaitlyn Filter who was pinch-running for Severson. UD led off the bottom of the fifth with a double but Ausenhus worked her way out of trouble, retiring three-straight while getting two pop-ups. Coe added to its lead in the top of the sixth, as Kappeler singled down the right-field line which scored Natalie Hansen from second. The Kohawks scored the final run of the game in the top of the seventh inning as Parson picked up her 11th RBI of the season to give Ausenhus an extra insurance run. She then retired the side in order to end the game, getting a fly-out and two ground outs to secure the win.
Up next: Coe will end the three-game series with the Spartans tomorrow afternoon with the third and final game of the series at 1:00 p.m.
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