GRINNELL, Iowa - One day after sweeping Monmouth, the Ripon College softball team finished off a great weekend with a split against Grinnell College. The Red Hawks won the first game 9-6 to go over the .500 mark in conference play for the first time in three years. They lost the nightcap however, 3-2, snapping their four-game conference win streak.

In the day's first game, Ripon's bats came alive, tying a season-high with 13 hits, but it was Grinnell (11-17, 7-7 MWC) that would get on the board first with a pair of runs in the opening inning. Ripon evened things up with two runs on five hits in the top of the second, scoring on singles from Melanie Kobelt and Maddie Koster. Ripon added two more runs in the third on another RBI single from Kobelt, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Isabella Osborn to take their first lead of the day.

Grinnell cut Ripon's lead in half with a run in the bottom of the third, and the Pioneers took the lead in the fourth, scoring two runs on two hits. The see-saw battle tilted Ripon's way in the sixth, as they scored twice on a double by Teara Morgenroth, while also scoring a run on a Koster double and a single up the middle by Julia Sanchez. Ripon tacked on an insurance run in the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Tene Robinson to give Ripon a 9-5 lead. The Pioneers led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run, but that would be the final hit they would get, as Lexi Reetz retired the next three batters to finish off her 18th complete game of the season.

Reetz (9-9) struck out four batters in her seven innings of work, while also going 2-for-3 at the plate with a game-high three runs scored. Sanchez, Kobelt, Robinson, and Koster also finished with two hits apiece.

The day's second game was more of a pitcher's duel, with neither team scoring until the third inning when Grinnell plated a run on an RBI single. Ripon answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth on a sac fly off the bat of Reetz. Grinnell then homered to lead off the fourth, but Ripon again tied things up in the fifth on an RBI single by Stephanie Cartwright. The lead changed hands yet again in the bottom of the fifth as the Pioneers scored the go-ahead run on a Ripon error.

The Red Hawks finished with six hits, with Cartwright and Robinson each recording two. Jessica Kobelt (3-8) suffered the loss despite allowing just two earned runs on eight hits and striking out two without issuing a walk in six innings of work.

With the split, Ripon remains in the thick of the postseason race, as they remain in a sixth-place tie with Grinnell in the MWC standings. They will have an opportunity to move as high as fourth place on Tuesday when they'll host Lake Forest College, which is currently sitting in the fourth and final spot for the MWC Tournament. That doubleheader will begin at 3 p.m. at Tracy Field in Ripon and will also be Senior Day, honoring the Red Hawks' four Seniors.