• Emma Dighton belts home run as DMACC drops opener, 9-3
• Madison Kearns and Kendal Clark homer in a 2-1 win in the nightcap
• Abby Flanagan stays unbeaten at 6-0 with the win in the second game

The DMACC softball team garnered a split with Kirkwood Community College (KCC) in a doubleheader March 21 at the DMACC softball diamond.

KCC won the opener, 9-3, and the Bears took the second game, 2-1, behind solo home runs from freshmen Madison Kearns of Glenpool, Okla., and Kendal Clark of Humboldt.

DMACC, ranked first in the most recent Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), came away from the four-game series with a 21-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).

KCC used a pair of rallies to win the opener. The Eagles broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the top of the fourth and then all but put the game out of reach with three runs in the top of the seventh.

DMACC got a pair of base hits from Clark, including a double, and freshman Emma Dighton of Boone hit a solo home run. Kearns doubled in the game and drove in a run. Sophomore Sami Miller of Mason City also had an RBI.

Sophomore Lexi Lander of Onawa fell to 5-1 with the loss. She pitched the first three and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on five hits. She struck out four and walked three. Dighton threw three and a third innings, allowing four runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Kearns and Clark belted solo home runs to give the Bears the win in the second game. Kearns, Miller and sophomore Jada Collins of Des Moines paced DMACC's eight-hit attack with two hits apiece and Dighton had a double.

Sophomore Ellie Jacobson of Humboldt threw the first four innings, allowing one run on four hits. She struck out two and walked two. Sophomore Abby Flanagan of Coggon went two and a third innings and improved to 6-0 with the win. She allowed one hit, struck out four and walked two. Freshman Sydney Kennedy of Peosta picked up her fifth save of the season in two-thirds of an inning.