The IU Colubus softball team had a .500 conference record going into a weekend road trip to conference leading Oakland City and St. Mary of the Woods. They are still at .500 after the weekend, losing a doubleheader on Saturday before coming back with two wins on Sunday.

Saturday, March 28
Game 1
Chloe Linn was the starting pitcher for the Crimson Pride and looked sharp early. She also looked ready in the batter's box as well, as she hit a solo home run leading off the top of the second inning. Oakland City came back in the bottom of the third inning with a two-out rally. The Mighty Oaks used two walks, three singles and a double to score four runs.

The Crimson Pride answered in the top of the fourth. With one out, Emma Chism, Lex Heafner and Lily Culp singled to load the bases. After a strikeout, Linnea Baldner's shot to the second baseman was booted, allowing two runs to score. The score stayed 4-3 in favor of the hosts until the bottom of the sixth.

Oakland City came out swinging with five straight singles before a force at second for the first out of the inning. Two more singles and a walk had loaded the bases once again, with the Mighty Oaks leading 9-3. Hannah Wissel came up with two outs and hit a grand slam to make the score 13-3, ending the game on the eight run rule.

Game  2
Baldner led off the second game with a double down the left field line. Chism hit a two-out single that scored Baldner for the early 1-0 lead. Oakland City loaded the bases with one out in the second. Starting pitcher Destiny Forler got out of the jam after allowing just a single run to tie the game.

Leading off the fourth, Mallory Shelton singled, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Justice Cash. Culp doubled to left-center, scoring Shelton for a 2-1 lead. The Mighty Oaks answered in the bottom half as Wissel homered for the second time on the day, and her teammates kept the rally going for five runs in the fourth to lead 6-2.

Pitching and defense took over from there, and the final score was 6-2. Oakland City showed why they lead the River States Conference with a record of 16-2.

Sunday, March 29
Game 1
Chloe Linn was the starting pitcher for IU Columbus, and she was touched for a solo home run by Bailey Duke in the first inning. Sydney Sauri singled to lead off the second for the Crimson Pride, and walks to Olivia Bright and Lily Culp loaded the bases with no outs. Carli Hosler was hit by a pitch, scoring Sauri. Linnea Baldner worked a full count walk to force in Bright. St. Mary was able to get out of the inning without further damage, trailing 2-1.

Raegan Manhart led off the bottom of the third with a single. One out later Caeden Bennett homered, giving the Pomeroys a 3-2 lead. That was the last hit they would get. Culp led off the fourth with a walk. One out later Baldner tripled to tie the score. She scored on an infield error, giving the Crimson Pride a lead they would not relinquish.

Linn led off the fifth with a solo home run, her second on the weekend. They added one more in the frame as Mackenzie Matern walked, Hosler singled and Baldner drove Matern home with an RBI single for a 6-3 lead. Leading off the sixth, Cierra Cramer reached on an error. Lex Heafner singled, and the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Linn came through again, this time with a two-run base hit to make the score 8-3. The Crimson Pride tacked on four more runs in the seventh for a final score of 12-3.

Linn was the star of the game, as she had as many hits (three, including the home run) as she allowed. She struck out 11 on her way to a complete game victory.

Game 2
St. Mary scored two runs in the first inning to take the early lead. The Crimson Pride offense perked up in the second inning. Chism and Shelton singled to open the inning. Two outs later they scored on a single by Renee Lecher.  Heafner walked, and both runners scored on a double by Baldner, giving IUC the lead 4-2.

The Crimson Pride used five base hits and a Pomeroy error to add four more runs in the fourth inning. The offense kept rolling in the fifth as they tacked on four runs with Shelton's three-run blast  making the score 12-2. Matern, who came in to pitch in the second inning, finished strong in the circle. She gave up only one hit in her four innings of relief, and the Crimson Pride completed the doubleheader sweep with a 12-2 win.

Next on the schedule:
The Crimson Pride continue conference play on the road with doubleheaders at West Virginia Tech on Friday and Rio Grande on Saturday.