CRYSTAL LAKE, ILL. - Less than 24 hours removed from one of their toughest days, the Madison College softball team responded with a resounding sweep of Region 4 foe McHenry County College on Friday. The WolfPack outlasted the Scots in a high-scoring opener with a 16-8 win before shutting out the competition in a 13-0 win in five innings to close out the sweep. Madison College is now 13-7 all-time against MCC and boasts a nine-game win streak in the series.

Game #1: Madison College 16, McHenry County College 8

A back-and-forth contest in the opener began with both teams scoring in the opening inning. Maddie Kvatek doubled home Brianna Brandner, and then scored on Trista Ripp's single to left for a 2-0 lead. The Scots came right back with a three-run home run in the home half against starter starter Claire Smedema. A solo homer in the third off Smedema made it a 4-2 differential. 

Freshman Makenna Gish found her power swing in the fourth inning, igniting a three-run rally with a game-tying two-run home run to left for her first long ball of the season. Brandner then drove in Briar Armatoski to put the Pack on top. Following a run-scoring double by Ripp and a subsequent run-producing hit from Mia Noelker, Gish sent an 0-1 offering again over the wall in left for her second two-run blast of the game, and giving the visitors a 9-4 edge.

That lead nearly disappeared with a four-run sixth inning for MCC against reliever Kiana Patterson. However, the WolfPack was not finished, and produced their biggest scoring inning of the day with seven runs in the seventh. Two errors sandwiched around a walk provided the first insurance run. The bats took over with a two-run single by Armatoski, a run-scoring base knock from Ellie Rademacher, a two-run triple off the bat off Ripp, and another Noelker RBI-single to double-up the Scots.

The five through seven hitters in the Madison College lineup combined to got 8 for 14 with ten RBI and seven runs scored. Gish became the tenth player in program history to club two home runs in a single game, and finished 2 for 4 with career-best's of four runs batted in and three runs scored, the latter sitting as the team-high for the game. Ripp and Noelker each went 3 for 5 at the plate, with Ripp using her pair of extra base hits to match Gish with a career-high four RBI and two runs scored. Noelker generated a pair of runs scored and two more driven in.

Smedema did not factor in the decision after going three innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk. Patterson (1-3) earned her first win of the season despite the Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native surrendering four earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Casey Fountain closed out the game with a 1-2-3 seventh that featured two strikeouts. Patterson also had two, while Smedema fanned one.

Game #2: Madison College 13, McHenry County College 0 (5 innings)

Game two was all WolfPack from the start with a another two-run first inning as Trista Ripp and Mia Noelker continued their hot hitting with run-producing hits. Ripp's fielder's choice in the second made it a 3-0 lead with two runners on when catcher Maddie Kvatek stepped to the plate and belted her second home run of the season.

A six-run lead over McHenry County College (2-8) exploded to an 11-0 advantage in the third thanks to six consecutive hits, starting with Kiana Patterson and Taylor Von Behren. Grace Madeiros, Sophie Rivera, and Chariell Butler each followed with a run-scoring single before Ripp capped the streak with a two-run double up the middle. Myah Hennessey and Bri Unger got in the mix in the fifth as each drove in a run to give Madison College (15-7) a 13-run lead.

Ripp, a native of Dane, Wisconsin, matched her output from the day's first game with three hits and four RBI. She also set a career-best with three runs scored. She finished the day with six hits, eight runs batted in, and five runs scored.

Rivera, an outfielder from Ixonia, Wisconsin, also set new career-high's with three hits, two runs scored, and a run batted in. Madeiros and Butler each posted two hits, two runs, and a RBI.

In the circle, Addison Warner (3-0) made her fifth appearance and blanked the Scots on four scattered hits and two walks. The Gilman, Wisconsin, native struck out five to secure her second consecutive win.

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