FREEPORT, ILL. - Pitching ruled the day Sunday as the Madison College softball team swept a Region 4 doubleheader with Highland Community College with wins of 4-0 and 10-2, with the finale closing in five innings. Pitchers Casey Fountain and Mallory Sterling were in complete control and combined to strike out 19 batters over 12 innings, and surrendered two total runs on nine hits. The pair of wins pushes the WolfPack's win streak over the Cougars to ten straight, and improves their lead in the all-time series to 16-6.

Game #1: Madison College 4, Highland Community College 0

Madison College grabbed a 1-0 lean in the second inning thanks to a wild pitch that scored Trista Ripp, who had singled to center two batters earlier. Pitcher Casey Fountain helped her own cause in the fifth with a two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle that plated Bri Unger and Briar Armatoski. Unger scored again in the seventh on a error by Highland Community College.

In the circle, Fountain (5-1) fanned ten batters for her second double-digit strike out performance of the season. The Poynette, Wisconsin, native did not allow a run on five scattered hits and a walk. At the plate, she paced the 'Pack with a 2 for 4 effort and two runs batted in.

Unger, an outfielder from Mosinee, Wisconsin, took advantage of two walks to score a team-high two runs.

Game #2: Madison College 10, Highland Community College 2 (5 innings)

Game two featured a monster eight-run second inning that propelled the 'Pack to a run-ruled victory. The inning opened with a double by Mia Noelker that started a string of seven consecutive hits. Kiana Patterson, Maddie Kvatek, and Casey Fountain each drove in a run during that string, and Ellie Rademacher did the same with a bases-loaded walk. With two outs on the board and a 4-0 lead, Noelker stepped the plate for the second time in the inning and cleared the bases with another double. Patterson's pop fly single to shallow right was enough to bring Noelker home and give Madison College an 8-0 advantage. After Highland Community College (11-5) scored their only runs of the day in the third inning, the WolfPack used two hits and a dropped third strike in the fourth to push across two runs of their own for a 10-2 lead.

Right-handed pitcher Mallory Sterling (3-1) took care of the rest with a five-inning performance that featured nine strike outs, her second-highest output of the season. The native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, was tagged for two earned runs on four hits and four walks.

Madison College matched a season-high with 15 hits, and saw eight different players register a base knock.Noelker, an Overland Park, Kansas, native, used her two hits to generate three RBI and two runs scored. Fountain and Makenna Gish both tallied three hits and a run scored, with Fountain also driving in a run.

Up Next:

Madison College (13-5, 4-1) remains on the road to two more Region 4 games against in-state foe Bryant & Stratton College (15-7) on Thursday, April 14. The WolfPack is 8-1 all-time against the Bobcats, who won the last meeting as part of a doubleheader in Madison last spring. First pitch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, set for 3:00 p.m., followed by an expected 5:00 p.m. start for game two. The game's can be followed and watched via the GameChanger app.

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