Grand View swept the softball team on Tuesday, April 5, at Cavaness Field. After the two wins, the Vikings move to 26-6 overall and 10-2 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Baker falls to 24-19 overall and 4-6 in conference play.

The wind Tuesday did anything but help pitcher Olivia Brees. Grand View started the first inning with a leadoff home run by freshman center fielder Allie Fitzgerald. Brees continued to struggle when Kendra Tott and Abbey Wilmes added to the home run derby. This inning gave the Vikings an early 3-0 lead.

“After the first inning I didn’t feel discouraged,” Brees said. “I just knew that I had to approach the batters in a different way. This is the first time we’ve ever seen this team so we didn’t have much on the hitters except for the fact that they could hit the ball hard, and I found that out for myself.”

After a shaky first inning, the ‘Cats picked up their defense. After the three home runs, the Vikings added seven hits in the remainder of the game and the ‘Cats made only one error.

The ‘Cats fell in the first game with a score of 6-1. Grand View finished game one with 10 hits and two errors, while Baker ended with two hits and two total errors.

The ‘Cats came out much stronger in game two with pitcher Teagan Louthan allowing only one hit and one run in the first inning.

Baker’s bats showed up in the bottom of the first as Hannah Tolliver led off with a ground ball to shortstop followed by a bunt by Ilona Miller, a walk by Lucy Staats, and a crucial cleanup hit by Rachel Wheeler scoring two runs. This inning gave Baker its first lead of the night at 2-1.

Trouble started in the top of the fifth when Alyssa Childress hit a single to center followed by a walk for Fitzgerald, a single by Jessica Grochala, and a three-run home run by Tott. After this inning, Grand View took the lead 5-2.

Baker coach Jamie Stanclift made a pitching change in the top of the sixth inning after the bases were loaded with two outs. Brees ended the inning without a problem and the scoring ceased for the remainder of the game.

Grand View walked away with its second win of the night over the Wildcats with a score of 5-2.

The ‘Cats have known the Vikings would be a tough match, and have recently faced injuries to important starters. Stanclift believes this may have affected their play.