Pioneers Split With William Penn

The Basics
Score 1: MNU 4, William Penn 0
Score 2: MNU 5, William Penn 7 (8 inn)
Records: MNU (25-17, 11-11), William Penn (22-18, 13-9)
Location: Olathe, Kan. – Williams Field

OLATHE, Kan. – MNU started Senior Day with a dominant shutout victory before falling in a back-and-forth extra-inning battle, splitting Saturday's matchup with William Penn.

In Game 1, MNU struck in the 1st inning when senior Molly Nicas launched a 2-run homer to left field, scoring Dakoda Hobbs and giving MNU an immediate 2-0 advantage. 

The Pioneers added insurance in the 6th inning with a squeeze bunt from Danica Hobbs to score Brie Manwarren. Moments later, Imel delivered again with an RBI single up the middle to extend the lead to 4-0. 

In the circle, MNU was nearly flawless. After two scoreless innings from senior Grace Berlage, Mandy Brown took over and dominated, striking out 9 over 5 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit to seal the victory. 

Game 1 Turning Point
Molly Nicas' two-run homer in the 1st inning was the game winner.

🥎 senior Molly Nicas with a 2-run homer on Senior Day to lead @MnuSoftball to a Game 1 victory! #FearTheNeer pic.twitter.com/V09bs3UkBY

— MNU Sports (@mnusports) April 19, 2026

Game 1 Individual Leaders
Grace Berlage started with 2 scoreless innings. Mandy Brown earned the win with 9 strikeouts in 5 innings of relief. And Danica Hobbs (2-3, 2B, RBI, Sac), Dakoda Hobbs (1-4, 2 R), Molly Nicas (1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Senne Imel (3-3, RBI, BB), Tuscani Ritter (1-2, BB), and Brie Manwarren (1-2, R, 2B) led the offense.

In Game 2, the teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle through 8 innings. The Pioneers opened the scoring in the 2nd inning on a sacrifice fly from Elayna Goff, but Penn scored 2 in the 4th to take the lead. MNU regained the lead in the 5th when Molly Nicas delivered a clutch 2-out 2--run double to put MNU ahead 3-2. 

William Penn answered with 2 in the 6th and another in the 7th to take a 5-3 lead, but MNU responded. Dakoda Hobbs led off with a single, and Brie Manwarren's RBI triple made it 5-4 with 1 out. Lailah Simmons followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 5, and the game went into extra innings. 

However, defensive miscues proved costly in the 8th. William Penn capitalized on errors to plate the go-ahead run, then rallied for another run to take a 7-5 lead.

MNU was unable to answer in the bottom half, and Penn salvaged a split.

Game 2 Turning Point
William Penn's 2-run 8th inning broke the tie.

Game 2 Individual Leaders
Danica Hobbs (1-4, 2 R), Brie Manwarren (3-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, RBI), Molly Nicas (1-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Lailah Simmons (1-3, RBI, BB), Senne Imel (1-3, R, BB), and Dakoda Hobbs (3-4) led the offense.

Up Next
The next double header is Tuesday at home vs. Park at 12:00/2:00.