NORMAL, ILL. - The Madison College softball team put its best foot forward Tuesday in sweeping Heartland Community College (IL) in a doubleheader. The #15-ranked WolfPack shutout the Hawks 8-0 in the opener, followed by a 21-6 dismantling in the nightcap, and freshman Casey Fountain demonstrated her versatility in both wins. The 'Pack now leads the all-time series by a 2-1 count after the teams played for the first time since a 2017 contest in Florida.

Game #1: #15 Madison College 8, Heartland Community College 0 (5 innings)

Fountain began her impressive day with a four-hit shutout in the pitcher's circle. The former Poynette HS athlete struck out three in limiting the Hawks to just 21 at-bats over five innings.

The WolfPack offense gave Fountain a lead to work with right away with a run in the first inning. A single off the bat of Abby Luczak drove in Brianna Brandner. An inning later the score was pushed to 4-0 thanks to an error and two hits, the last of which produced two runs on a Maddie Kvatek base hit. One swing of the bat in the third inning busted the game open when freshman Alisia Palms crushed her first career home run, a three-run blast to center that plated Grace Madeiros and Abbie Cavadini. The 'Pack added their final run in the fifth with a double from Brandner that scored Palms.

Brandner and Cavadini each had two hits in the game, with Cavadini also drawing a walk and scoring two runs. Palms, a native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, went 1 for 3, but led the team with career-high three runs scored and three batted in. Kvatek registered two RBI.

Game #2: #15 Madison College 21, Heartland Community College 6 (5 innings)

Heartland Community College (10-6) jumped out to an early lead in game two with a two-run homer in the first inning off starter Mallory Sterling. The second year hurler's teammates helped her cause in the second inning with a three spot on two hits and two errors. Hannah Melum and Katie Joten each drove in a run.

The game took a major turn in the third. Maddie Kvatek opened the inning with a solo home run to center for a 4-2 lead, and after singles by Mia Noelker and Casey Fountain, Sterling provided another thunderous hit with a three-run homer to left. Brianna Brandner singled in Melum to make it an 8-2 differential. After Heartland responded with four runs of their own, the WolfPack went to work in the fourth with a season-best 12 runs on eight hits, four walks, and two errors. Highlighting the monster inning was bases-loaded single to center by Joten that cleared the bases, as well as run-producing hits from Noelker, Fountain, and Melum en route to a 20-6 lead. The final tally was the result of a Grace Madeiros single to drive in Megan Zillges.

Six different players finished with multiple hits in the game, led by Fountain's perfect 4 for 4 effort that resulted in a team-best four runs scored and one RBI. Joten, a native of Little Chute, Wisconsin, was joined in the three-hit club by Brandner. Joten also registered a career-high five runs batted in and a run scored. Sterling used her two hits, which included her first collegiate round-tripper, to produce three runs and three runs batted in. Kvatek's long ball marked her third of the season.

Sterling (1-0), a Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, product, secured her first win of the season and second her career as she worked 2 2/3 innings with five earned runs allowed on three hits and four walks. Freshman Lauren Steien tossed the final 2 1/3 innings to pick up her first career save. The former Blair-Taylor HS athlete surrendered one earned run on two hits. The duo combined to strikeout three Hawks batters.

Up Next:

Madison College (7-1) is back on the road this Friday, April 2 for a Region 4 doubleheader at Black Hawk College (2-1). The WolfPack have won all eight prior meetings between the two programs. The game one first pitch in Moline, Illinois, is slated or 1:00 p.m., followed by a 3:00 p.m. start to game two. 

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