Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

Apr. 1, 2021 - Bolstered by a solid outing both in the circle and at the plate by junior pitcher Taylor Donnell, the Loras College softball team (1-11, 1-7 A-R-C) earned their first win of the 2021 season with a 6-5 victory over the Simpson College Storm (6-8, 4-4 A-R-C). Donnell pitched a complete game and hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning in the first game of the day, but the Duhawks split after being edged in the second.

Game one saw the Duhawks shut down the Storm in the first two innings, keeping the score tied at 0-0 going into the bottom of the second. After two Loras strikeouts and Jessica Bulanda on first after hitting a single down the left field line, Ellie Schill reached base on a bunt that advanced Bulanda to third on a throwing error by the first baseman. Schill stole second with Abby Jones at the plate. Jones drove in Bulanda from third on an RBI single to give the Duhawks the lead at 1-0. 

The Storm tied the game back up at 1-1 on a solo homerun to right field from Maddie Luderman in the top of the third inning, where the score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth. 

With an out on the board in the bottom of the fourth, Schill drew a walk to bring Jones back to the batter's box. Jones reached on a bunt that advanced Schill to second with Hadalyn Anderson due up. Anderson advanced the runnners to second and third on a fielder's choice to bring Gabriella Garcia to the plate, who placed a single into the gap in left center that scored Jones from third. Catcher Abigail Bergholz hit a hard hit ball at the shortstop, whose error put Bergholz on first and scored Garcia and Anderson to give Loras a three run lead with Donnell stepping up to bat. Donnell put two more runs on the board with a two-run homerun over the wall in left center field to give the Duhawks a 6-1 advantage after four innings of play. 

The game stayed at 6-1 in the Duhawks favor until the top of the seventh inning until Simpson's Karlie Hill hit a three-run homer and Camrey Leo added another on an infield RBI single to bring the score to the final at 6-5. 

Donnell threw 7.0 innings, allowing five runs on five hits with three strikeouts while also contributing offensively with the Duhawks' lone homerun of the game. Three Duhawks in Garcia, Bulanda and Jones had two hits on the day with Donnell posting two RBIs and Garcia, Bergholz and Jones each added one apiece. 

The second game of the afternoon saw the Storm get off to an immediate seven-run lead in the top of the first inning on a pair of RBI singles and a grand slam from Hill. 

Inning number two saw Simpson tack on another run on an RBI single up the middle that was followed by two more runs in the top half of the third on a two-run homer from Sara Trent. 

The Duhawks put their rally caps on in the bottom of the fourth inning and heated up the offense with Grace Houghton showing discipline at the plate and drawing a walk with bases loaded. With Anderson at the plate, runners advanced and another run scored for the Duhawks on a passed ball. Anderson smacked a single to center field that scored two more for the Duhawks, bring Schill and Jones across the plate and taking the score to 10-4. 

Loras continued their comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning as Bergholz led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Head coach Ashley Winter made the call to Alexus Jensen to pinch run for Bergholz, seeing the move pay off as Jensen stole second to put a runner in scoring position with Donnell at the plate. Donnell hit a grounder to second base to advance Jensen to third for Bulanda, who drove her in on a single to center field. Bulanda went on to advance to second on a ground out by pitcher Kayla Stich and an RBI single brough Bulanda home for the second run of the inning, taking the score to 10-6. Simpson added one more in the top of the sixth inning to bring the score to the final 11-6. 

Nicole Bendig faced eight batters in the first innings before Stich came in at relief, pitching 6.2 innings with three strikeouts, allowing four runs on seven hits. 

Jadyn Anderson led the Duhawks in game two, going 3-4 at the plate with one RBI and scoring one run. Stich went 2-4 on the day offensively with one run scored while six Duhawks each had a hit in the game. 

Loras returns to Faber-Clark Field on Monday, Apr. 5 as they close out the season series against the Storm. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM in Dubuque, Iowa.