MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras College Softball team fought tooth and nail against the Rams of Cornell College of Friday afternoon at the Mount Vernon Softball Complex. Stellar outings in the circle by senior Holly Klein and junior Makaila Haase and freshman Miranda Chapman's home run were not enough to lift the Duhawks past the Rams as they fell in back-to-back games. Scoreless for a majority of the first contest, Cornell scored two late to take game one (2-0). Chapman's game-tying homerun forced extra innings in game two, but the Rams outlasted the Duhawks 4-3 in 12 innings.

With senior Holly Klein dealing on the mound for the Duhawks (5-9), Cornell's (11-2) sophomore Jesse Applehans matched her inning for inning. As the two dueled it out on the mound, pitching out of jams and forcing timely ground balls, the game remained scoreless through five innings.

After the Duhawks stranded a runner on first in their half of the sixth, the Rams moved into the scoring column. With runner's on first and second, Cornell freshman Melissa Orton laced a ball over the head of freshman Savannah Fowler in left field. The deep hit pushed one across before a bobbled relay allowed the Rams to take a 2-0 lead. 

Unable to bring any runs across the plate in the top of the seventh, the Duhawks fell 2-0.

Sophomore Danielle Stromert opened game two with a leadoff double, with hopes of jump starting the Duhawks offense. Advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, a grounder to the right side allowed Stromert to stroll into third. Unfortunately, Stromert would move no further, as the Duhawks stranded her on third in the opening frame.

A leadoff single came around to score in Cornell's half of the first, giving them the early edge, 1-0. From there, junior Makaila Haase buckled down on the mound behind the direction of senior catcher Nora Zerante. 

Trailing by one, Zerante stepped to the plate to leadoff the third inning. Down in the count early, Zerante battled her way back before singling up the middle. A well-executed sacrifice bunt by Fowler advanced Zerante to second with one out, bringing Stromert to bat. 

Facing off against the Duhawks top hitter, Applehans pitched on the outskirt of the zone, eventually giving Stromert the free pass to first base. Stromert's patience in the box, brought freshman Bria Lenten up with the go ahead run on first. 

Lenten smoked a shot back at Applehans who collected the ball and tossed to third, getting the Duhawks' lead runner. The heads up defensive play by the Rams was followed up by a miscue, loading the bases for senior Katie Serpico. 

Waiting for her pitch, Serpico took a selective approach into the box. Fighting off several foul balls, Serpico took the seventh pitch of the at bat and sent it down the left field line. Moving into second with a standup double, Serpico drove in two, giving the Duhawks their first lead of the afternoon, 2-1.

Cornell responded, leveling the score in the bottom of the third before regaining the lead in the fifth, 3-2.

Heading to the sixth inning, the Duhawks found themselves trailing by one. Looking to level the score, freshman Miranda Chapman stepped into the batter's box of the field she spent her high school career.

Comfortable and poised in the box, Chapman fought off Applehans best pitches before blasting a shot well over the fence in left field. Chapman's dinger leveled the score at three and brought energy to the Duhawks dugout. 

With the score even and the Rams up for their half of the seventh, head coach Ashley Winter sent Klein back out to the mound to close out the game. 

Replacing Haase, Klein snagged a liner with one out and doubled up the runner at first to end the seventh unscathed. 

In the eighth inning, the Duhawks loaded the bases for the fourth time in the game but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. 

Following innings filled with spectacular defensive plays, the a leadoff single came around to score on a walk-off RBI-single by the Rams. The timely piece of hitting by Cornell, sent the Duhawks home with a 4-3 loss.

Game Changer
A double in the sixth sealed the win for Cornell in game one as the Duhawks failed to respond in their final at bats … In game two, the walk single in the bottom of inning 12 stop the Duhawks' comeback short

Key Stat
Loras left 30 runners on base between the two games, Cornell stranded 25

Notables

• Friday's 12 inning outing marked the longest game played by the Duhawks since April 5, 2008 when they topped Buena Vista 2-0 in 12 innings
• Freshman Miranda Chapman made her first start of the season, highlighted by her home run in game two
• Junior Makaila Haase pitched 6.0 innings, earning the no decision
• Senior Holly Klein pitched a total of 11.1 innings, striking out five 

Quotable
Ashley Winter, head coach
"I thought our pitching was great today. Nora did an awesome job behind the plate, working with Holly and Makaila."

Freshman Miranda Chapman
"Making my first start on the field I played on in high school was pretty cool. I feel comfortable here and it helped today, especially defensively."

Up Next
The Duhawks busy stretch continues on Saturday when they travel back to Mount Vernon, Iowa to take part in a doubleheader against St. Olaf. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.