HUMBOLDT — The bats were connecting just fine for Allen Community College’s softball team Saturday.
But so were the bats from visiting Metropolitan Community College.
The Red Devils secured a hard-earned split, eking out a 10-9 win in the opener before Metro bounced back to fend off Allen’s charge in a 21-19 victory.
The split gives Allen a 3-1 mark. The Red Devils return to action Tuesday with a doubleheader against North Central Missouri College, starting at 11 a.m. at the Humboldt Sports Complex.
Allen batters rapped out 15 hits and scored four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to secure the opener.
Hailee Lundine’s two-out three-run triple broke open a 2-2 deadlock in the bottom of the fourth. Andrea Wilson’s leadoff home run in the fifth pushed the lead to 6-2. Back-to-back doubles by Alayna Brown and Kobe McDonald pushed Allen up, 9-2.
But Metro responded by rapping out six hits and taking advantage of an ACC fielding error to knot the score at 7-7 in the sixth.
Mikayla Long’s leadoff blast in the bottom of the frame pushed the Red Devils back on top.
Wilson, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, then worked around a leadoff single in the top of the seventh. She struck out Metro’s Karah Dunham with the tying run on third base to seal the win.
Makayla Howard rapped out three hits, including a double. Brown had two hits with a double. Lundine had a single and triple. Kinsey Stuewe had a single and double.
Cynae Wiley was cruising along, allowing only six hits through five innings, before wobbling in the sixth. She wound up surrendering nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts to get the win.
Wilson gave up four hits with a strikeout to earn the save.
METROPOLITAN erupted for four runs in the first and seven more in the second to lead, 11-0.
But Allen didn’t go down without a fight. Long responded with a three-run shot in the bottom of the second to key a seven-run rally. Trista Argabright followed with a triple before Aubrey Willis, Brown, Bella Gravatt and Lundine all followed with infield singles. Long’s sac fly pulled Allen within four.
But Metro wasn’t done by a long shot, stringing together consecutive four-run innings to lead 19-7.
Long and Arisbei Black delivered back-to-back doubles in the fourth to start the Allen comeback. McDonald smacked a three-run home run in the fifth to pare the gap to 19-13.Steuw’s RBI single followed later in the inning to make it a five-run game.
