The Indianola and Norwalk softball teams split a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader Wednesday night in a battle of highly-rated Class 4A rivals. The seventh-ranked Indians won the first game 4-1 behind Izzie Benge’s complete game in the pitching circle while the fourth-ranked Warriors overcame an early 2-0 deficit to win the night cap 5-2 as Olivia Dougherty pitched all seven innings with eight strikeouts.

Both games were streamed live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3).

The game two victory clinched a second-place conference finish for Norwalk, which ended the night 25-7 overall and 18-3 in the Little Hawkeye. Indianola, now 22-11 overall, will take a third-place 15-5 league record into tonight’s Little Hawkeye finale vs. Pella. The varsity game at Indianola can be heard on both 94.3 KNIA and 92.1 KRLS, with pregame coverage set to begin at 6:45 p.m.

Benge, now 12-7, allowed eight Norwalk hits in game one Wednesday but was able to escape bases-loaded jams in the second and sixth innings to maintain her team’s slim lead. She struck out four, walked one and also hit one batter, outdueling the Warriors’ Addi Downe, who allowed 11 hits and four earned runs.

Jordyn Gripp went 3-for-4 with an RBI double to lead the Indians offensively, Mara Bishop hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fourth, and Izzy Sloan was 2-for-4 with an RBI double as well. Norwalk scored its only game-one run on Lauren Black’s RBI double in the third. Downe and Zadie Wadle both added three singles.

Indianola took a quick 2-0 lead in game two on Kiley Kindelspire’s RBI double and Selia Becker’s run-scoring single, but Dougherty (2-1) settled down to retire eight straight batters and held the Indians scoreless the rest of the way.

The Warriors tied the game with single runs in the second and third innings – getting RBI singles from Taylor Condon and Downe – then took their first lead of the night on Black’s two-run single in the fifth. Nyah Hulbert added a run-scoring double in the sixth and finished 2-for-3.

Gripp and Sloan finished the doubleheader with a combined nine hits for Indianola while Norwalk’s Downe was never retired in six plate appearances.

The Warriors will return to action Friday at the Fillie Softball Invitational in Dallas Center, facing Urbandale and Des Moines Roosevelt.