In a season that has been marked with peaks and valleys, the Archers found themselves at another high-water mark Sunday, after sweeping a pair of games over Morthland College, 8-5 and 11-1, respectively.
The doubleheader sweep was fueled by a pair of home runs from both Abbey Holtkamp and Ariel Lipe. The sophomore duo, who were honored along with six sophomore teammates between games, each delivered a home run in each of the two games.
For Holtkamp, the offensive barrage was more of the same. The slugging first baseman leads all Archers with 12 home runs since the start of the 2015 season. It was a much different story for Lipe, who entered the day batting .146. She ended it with a pair of home runs and a ringing double into the left-center field gap.
While the results showed in a big way on Sunday, it was the result of a season-long progression for Lipe.
“There was a stretch in Myrtle Beach where she wasn’t putting the ball in play,” head coach Shawn Summe said. “Lately, she has been, with a lot of hard ground balls and line drives. It’s been coming. She’s got power. She’s a strong girl. She ‘Kirk Gibsoned’ it by hitting a home run after tweaking her ankle. She’s really coming around.”
Kayla McMahon and Tiffany Link recorded the wins in the circle for the Archers.