Softball: Trojans down Denison to notch season’s first Hawkeye 10 Conference victory

ATLANTIC— The Trojanns picked up a much-needed conference victory Tuesday night, jumping out to a three-run lead and holding on for a 3-1 victory over visiting Denison to win their first Hawkeye 10 game in five tries.

“We needed this,” Trojanns coach Lori Lammers said afterwards. “We pitched well, played great defense and we were that offensive threat right from the beginning. That’s something we need to bring every night we play ball.”

Atlantic pitcher Alex Zimprich proved in command, throwing a two-hitter while shutting out Denison through six innings before hitting a speed bump in the seventh. A pending disaster averted, Zimprich surrendered one run in the seventh but held tight for the two run victory.

“Alex pitched a great game, she moved the ball around like she needed to and kept the runners off the base paths,” Lammers said.

The victory showed the Trojanns breaking out of an offensive slump and snapping a four-game conference losing streak. Atlantic improves to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the Hawkeye 10. The team will get a shot to move above the .500 mark with a twin bill against Red Oak at home Thursday night.

“We hit the ball a lot better tonight than we have been,” Lammers said. “The kids came out hitting well and we probably played our best defensive game in the past three weeks. The important thing is we got a win when we needed it.”