The second-ranked Ankeny Centennial softball team ended a three-game losing skid by posting a 3-2 victory in the nightcap of a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday at No. 5 Linn-Mar (Marion).
The Jaguars had dropped a 3-2 decision in the opener after losing a pair of 5-4 games to No. 13 Cedar Falls on Friday. They handed Linn-Mar (13-2) just its second loss of the season while raising their own record to 14-6.
Centennial scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Kori Lincicum led off with a single, went to second on a bunt by Lauren Bartine and came home on a single by Makenna Foster.
Mary Brantley led off the game with a walk. Two outs later, Mady Ott hit her seventh homer of the season to give the Jaguars a 2-0 lead.
Linn-Mar answered with two runs in the third to tie it before Aubrey Scieszinski (7-2) shut down the Lions the rest of the way. She allowed eight hits, walked none and had three strikeouts.
Foster went 3-for-3 in the win. Lincicum went 2-for-4 and had a double.
In the first game, Centennial took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Linn-Mar got a run in the fifth to close the gap. The Lions then rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn the walk-off win.
Lincicum (4-3) took the loss, allowing two earned runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings. She walked none and had six strikeouts.
Foster and Camden Starr each drove in a run for the Jaguars. Jordyn Kennedy went 2-for-2 with a walk–her 20th in 20 games.
Centennial will host a CIML Conference game against Urbandale (5-12) on Monday.