Even when she strikes out seemingly the entire country, Triton College sophomore pitcher
Alyssa Stramaglia will gladly accept the help of her teammates.
Stramaglia, almost outdoing herself with 16 strikeouts in seven innings, needed every bit of that assistance in the Trojans 3-2 victory Thursday over Kirkwood Community College (IA) in the first game of a home doubleheader.
Batterymate
Lucy Goodwin and left fielder
Breanne Deutscher slugged homers for the only dents against Eagles ace Kori Wedeking, who otherwise matched Stramaglia pitch for pitch.
The Trojans long balls were especially welcome in a twin bill matching No. 10-ranked Triton (36-6) and No. 11 Kirkwood (33-15), in a possible NJCAA National Tournament preview in May. Another pitching duel between Eagles strikeout specialist Payton Akers and No. 2 Trojans starter
Claire Stillwell kept the nitecap in doubt until Kirkwood broke open the game in the seventh in their 8-1 triumph.
Deutscher's two-run homer to left erased a 2-1 Kirkwood lead as Stramaglia then bore down for her 17
th victory and 16
th complete game in 18 starts. She now has 198 strikeouts in 107 innings pitched.
"It hyped me up for sure," Stramaglia said of the Goodwin and Deutscher homers. "I was happy for both of them. (Goodwin) was clutch with both her hits. I'm just proud of them."
Deutscher, the No. 7 Trojans batter in their lineup, recorded her sixth homer. The Leyden High School graduate did not want to waste Stramaglia's almost-unhittable work.
"She definitely inspires us to do well because she works so hard out there," Deutscher said. "When I see the dedication, you can see why she has that many strikeouts."
Stramaglia had brief early control trouble, hitting a batter and issuing a walk in the second. Both runners scored on a Brooke Kilberg single. Goodwin cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning with her home run to left field.
Stramaglia then found her rhythm, missing bats when it most counted as Kirkwood pushed the tying run into scoring position twice in the late innings. The Eagles had two runners on with one out in the seventh, but Stramaglia finished with her 16th strikeout and a flyout. Possessed of a seemingly rubber arm, she totaled 140 pitches.
"Honesty, it was a great feeling, back and forth, it's just a crazy feeling," Stramaglia said of her duel with Wedeking.
"For me personally, pressure fuels me, if that makes sense. The pressure made me want to throw more strikes. Just knowing this could possibly be my competition (in a four-year school) next year. The competition is going to be higher. I have to get used to it."
Other teams will now match their aces against Stramaglia. Wedeking came into the game 14-4 with a 1.19 ERA.
Kirkwood's visit to River Grove to take on Triton was arranged last week after numerous rainouts and cancelations opened the schedule for both teams. The Eagles were ranked as high as No. 8, then dropped behind Triton in the latest NJCAA Division II poll released April 25.
Doubleheader sweeps are difficult among near-evenly matched teams. So the Trojans no doubt were satisfied with the split and playing a quality opponent should help prepare them for the postseason.
Unfortunately, Triton could not solve the hard-throwing Akers in game two, who upped her mark to 12-8. Akers had 187 strikeouts in 108 innings coming in, ranking fifth in the nation, just ahead of Stramaglia in NJCAA Division II. She added 10 more in her dominant complete game victory.
Kirkwood held just a 2-0 lead through six as Stilwell (8-2) amassed a good performance of her own. But she weakened in the final inning when the Eagles scored six runs. Goodwin drove in Triton's only run with a RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)
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