Every game the Marshalltown softball team had played had been all but decided before the final inning prior to Monday night.

The Bobcats responded real well to their first taste of that last at-bat intensity.

Marshalltown eighth-grader Bristol Ealy ripped the game-winning hit to drive in courtesy runner Charlotte Reyes, lifting the Bobcats to a momentous 4-3 victory over Des Moines Lincoln in the opening game of Monday’s Iowa Alliance Conference twinbill at MHS.

The Bobcats went with the flow for the second game, scoring a 6-1 win for the league sweep to end a six-game losing streak in exciting fashion.

Marshalltown (4-7) scored three times in their first at-bat of the night as Ealy pounded a three-run double to the gap in left with two outs to give the Bobcats the early 3-0 advantage.

MHS stranded six runners on base in their next five at-bats before Ealy came through in the clutch again in the seventh.

Tied at 3-all, Abby Janssen reached with a leadoff walk and Reyes took over on the bases. Lincoln hurler Sarah Vrba responded by striking out Briley Danielson, but Emma Stupp’s groundout moved Reyes into scoring position. Faith Sommerlot’s blooper was misplayed and she took second when the throw home held Reyes at third, but Ealy delivered the walk-off winner with a game-ending single to the gap in right.

Ealy finished 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in all four runs for the Bobcats. Sommerlot’s first-inning single loaded the bases and was the team’s only other hit off Vrba, who struck out 12 but walked nine.

Danielson started in the circle for MHS and allowed two runs on four hits and five walks over 5 1/3 innings, striking out five. Sommerlot gave up one hit in recording the final five outs for the win.

In the nightcap, Stupp struck out 10 and walked one in a three-hitter for the complete-game pitching performance that helped propel the Bobcats to a 6-1 win.

Marshalltown scored four times in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good, capitalizing on a pair of errors by the Railsplitters (1-10). A leadoff bunt single for Kendall Brummel lit the fire, Danielson drove her home with a single to center, and consecutive two-out errors got Sommerlot and Ealy on base.

Olivia Wise and Hanna Osgood followed suit with back-to-back RBI singles, and the Bobcats led 4-0.

In the fifth, Danielson reached with a two-out walk, Stupp got on via error, and a double-steal by courtesy runner Lauren O’Neal and Danielson plated a run, and O’Neal came around on a Sommerlot single to make it 6-0 Marshalltown.

The Bobcats made the most of their five hits against Lincoln pitchers Anna Trammel and Madelyn Small, who combined for six strikeouts and just one walk, but the Railsplitters couldn’t overcome three errors.

MHS goes out on the road for seven more games over the next four days, starting with Alliance doubleheaders Wednesday at Ottumwa and Thursday at Mason City.

The Bobcats play as part of BCLUW’s Dave Lee Classic on Friday and Saturday, but will not face the host Comets as they traditionally have. Marshalltown meets Sumner-Fredericksburg on Friday at 5 p.m., and on Saturday the Bobcats challenge South Hardin at 1:30 p.m. and AGWSR at 3:15 p.m.