Duanna Coyle comes in, saves a split for Cedar Rapids Xavier softball

CEDAR RAPIDS — You’re aware of Duanna Coyle’s bat, her glove.

There’s something else in her proverbial toolbox that has been stored away for the past three seasons.

“The last time I really pitched was in eighth grade,” she said. “It feels really good to come back and help the team that way.”

Now a junior for Cedar Rapids Xavier, Coyle closed Tuesday’s Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader nightcap with some steam. She struck out five batters in a 1 2/3-inning save to nail down the Saints’ 4-2 victory over Class 5A 14th-ranked Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Larry Niemeyer Field.

Jefferson won the opener, 5-1.

Xavier’s regular third baseman, Coyle moved to the pitching circle in a high-stress situation. The Saints (4-3 overall, 3-3 MVC) held a 4-1 lead with runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

Coyle struck out the next two betters on eight pitches.

“We needed to change things up,” Xavier Coach Nikki Gahring said. “We were going through their lineup for the third time, and Duanna gave us a completely different look.”

“When I pitch, it’s a mindset,” Coyle said. “I like to mess with the batters, using my funky pitches and throwing it by them.”

Coyle’s best stuff Tuesday was high heat.

Jefferson (3-3, 2-2) had three hits in the seventh, scoring a run and getting the tying run to second base. But Coyle finished with her fifth punch-out to wrap it up.

Coyle was in the middle of Xavier’s four-run first inning that held up. She delivered an RBI single for the Saints’ second run, then Katie Pilcher followed up with a two-run home run to left field.

Xavier led the opener 1-0 until the J-Hawks struck late. Lilli Wulff drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, then Kelsey Palmer poked an RBI single in Jefferson’s three-run fifth inning.

Wulff’s two-run double in the sixth made it 5-1.

“Late in the first game and late in the second game ... this group keeps competing,” Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba said.

Xavier has split all three of its MVC doubleheaders. Jefferson has done the same in its two league twinbills. It might be a common theme for both teams all season.

“I think we can compete with lots of teams in this league,” Kuba said. “We’ve got good enough pitching to stay in games. We have to keep getting better with our hitting and defense.”

Olivia Young scattered five hits in the opener and shut the Saints down after the first inning.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson 5-2, Cedar Rapids Xavier 1-4

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

Game 1

C.R. Xavier 100 000 0 — 1 5 1

C.R. Jefferson 000 320 x — 5 7 1

Braylen Conlon and Katie Pilcher. Olivia Young and Mackenzie McWhorter. W — Young (NA). L — Conlon (1-3).

Game 2

C.R. Xavier 400 000 0 — 4 8 2

C.R. Jefferson 000 001 1 — 2 9 2

Elena Schmit, Duanna Coyle (6) and Katie Pilcher, Claire Walter (6). Morgan Hewitt and Regan Gaines. W — Schmit (2-0). L — Hewitt (NA). SV — Coyle (1). HR — CRX: Pilcher (2).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com