MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – Three home runs and timely hitting fueled the Loras College Softball team to a sweep of the St. Olaf Oles at the Mount Vernon Softball Complex on Saturday. Sophomore Erin Hosch and senior Holly Klein earned the wins on the mound while sophomore Danielle Stromert drove in four.

Freshman Regan Wolverton belted a pitch over the right field fence, scoring two in the Duhawks opening at bats of game one. The long ball off the bat of Wolverton ultimately served as a precursor to the immense amount of run production the Duhawks pitching staff would benefit from for the rest of the afternoon.

While the Oles (0-5) were quick to erase the Duhawks' lead, pushing two across in the second before holding a 6-2 advantage through two innings, Loras fought back.

With Hosch holding St. Olaf to two hits over the next four innings, senior Katie Serpico started Loras' comeback. Battling in the box, Serpico crushed a pitch well over the fence but just foul for a long strike. Sitting back on the next pitch, Serpico smashed a shot over the left field fence, bringing life to the Duhawks bats.

After freshman Miranda Chapman drew a walk, junior Makaila Haase's double put runners on second and third with senior Nora Zerante at the plate. Taking the signal from head coach Ashley Winter, Zerante dug into the batter's box and executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring in Chapman from third. The RBI-bunt by Zerante cut Loras' deficit to three, keeping momentum in favor of the Duhawks.

Under the direction of Zerante, Hosch continued to fool St. Olaf's batters, providing the Duhawks with an opportunity to even the score in the fifth.

Taking full advantage of pitching effort of Hosch, Zerante started off the top of the fifth with a walk. After freshman Savannah Fowler's sacrifice bunt moved Zerante to second, sophomore Danielle Stormert's triple drove in the Chicago Heights, Illinois product to pull the Duhawks within two.

After a deep fly ball scored Stromert, Wolverton reached on an error, keeping the inning alive with two outs. Earning the pinch hitting opportunity, sophomore Kat Angelini came to the plate in place of Serpico. Working the count in her favor, Angelini found herself in the driver's seat with a 3-1 count. Capitalizing on the opportunity, Angelini laced a pitch up the middle, scoring Wolverton from second and putting Loras in front 7-6.

From that point on, the Duhawks never relinquished their lead. Exploding for eight runs in the sixth, featuring RBI-singles by Haase and junior Emily Schroeder on their way to a 16-8 win.

St. Olaf took control early in game two, carrying a 8-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth.

Exploiting errors and pitching that lacked control, the Duhawks used a plethora of errors and walks, combined with timely hitting to score nine in their half of the fifth. The offensive explosion turned the tables on the Oles, lifting the Duhawks to a 10-8 edge.

Haase's two-run dinger in the sixth pushed Loras' lead to 12-8, heading to St. Olaf's last at bats.

Heading to the mound for her second inning of work, senior Holly Klein allowed a leadoff single to come around and score before inducing a game ending groundout to secure the sweep.

Game Changer
Regaining the lead late in each game, the Duhawks held on until the end to sweep the Oles

Key Stat
Loras outscored St. Olaf 23-3 in the final three innings of each game

Notables

Up Next
Iowa Wesleyan travels to Faber-Clark field on Tuesday, opening the Duhawks' home schedule. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.