DES MOINES — Sophomore Briley Danielson had five hits and pitched the Marshalltown softball team to one of its two victories in a doubleheader sweep of Des Moines East in Thursday’s Iowa Alliance Conference games.
The Bobcats (10-10) ran their win streak to six with wins of 9-6 and 10-9, sweeping the host Scarlets (3-13) for a pair of contested victories.
In the opening game, Danielson allowed four earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out seven. East’s first batter, Lohna Hernandez-Howard, hit a home run, and the Scarlets led 3-0 after two innings.
Marshalltown countered with a seven-run eruption in the top of the third, and the Bobcats didn’t trail on the scoreboard for the rest of the night. MHS sent 11 hitters to the plate in the inning, collecting eight hits to take the lead for good.
Brooklyn Smith led off with a double, Kendall Brummel singled, Gianna Baune doubled, Abby Janssen singled, and Laney Danielson singled to tie the score at 3-all. One out later, back-to-back singles by Briley Danielson and Aubree Mundt made it 5-3. Faith Sommerlot’s groundout scored a run, and Smith singled home another for the 7-3 advantage.
East got back to within 7-6 in the bottom of the third, but Marshalltown tacked on some much-needed insurance in the fifth. Mundt led off with a double and scored two outs later on a single by Brummel. Baune followed with an RBI double to bring the score to its final.
After East inched to within 7-6, Briley Danielson surrendered just three more hits the rest of the way to seal the victory.
Baune, Laney Danielson, Olivia Wise, Mundt, Smith and Brummel each had two of the Bobcats’ 14 hits in the win.
In the nightcap, Briley Danielson went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run and three RBIs to lead Marshalltown’s offense — and the Bobcats needed every bit of it.
MHS got out to a 7-1 lead, but East responded to get back within 7-6 after five frames. The Bobcats and Scarlets both scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh, Marshalltown sophomore pitcher Hanna Osgood finished the game she started to earn the win and the save.
Osgood pitched the first four innings and left in the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded and a 7-4 lead. Sommerlot got the second out but walked consecutive batters, and freshman Charlotte Reyes made her varsity debut in a tricky spot. She got a fielder’s choice groundout, forcing the runner out at home, and a strikeout closed the door for the moment.
Briley Danielson’s two-run double drove home Rayelle Brott and Laney Danielson in the top of the sixth, but East got two of its own against Reyes and eventually Osgood again.
The Bobcat defense helped Osgood get out of the jam by stranding the bases loaded, and MHS got a critical run in the top of the seventh that would prove to be the game-winner. Osgood worked a one-out walk, and Brott followed with a two-out single up the middle to drive her home for the 10-8 lead.
Jayda Rattray hit a two-out, RBI double to get East within 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh, but she was left stranded at second base as the tying run.
Osgood allowed seven runs — two earned — on 10 hits and five walks while striking out two. She also scored twice.
Brott and Mundt added two hits apiece to help the Bobcats overcome four errors.