Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243
 
Apr. 14, 2022 – After being pushed back a day as rainy weather swept the area, the No. 23 Loras College softball team () took on the Wartburg College Knights at Faber-Clark Field on a gusty Thursday afternoon. Fueled by a two-run home run off the bat of Grace Houghton early in game one, the Duhawks edged the Knights 3-2 before narrowly falling in game two, overcoming a four-run deficit on a Taylor Donnell home run in the final inning to pull within one to split the series.
 
In the first game of the series, the Duhawks wasted no time putting runs up on the scoreboard as Ellie Schill led the bottom of the inning off with a double up the middle. With an out in the inning and a runner on second, Houghton stepped into the batter's box and smacked a homer over the fence in right center to give the Duhawks a 2-0 lead from the get-go.
 
The score remained unchanged through the fourth inning until the Duhawks tacked on another insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Abby Jones hit a one-out double into the gap in left center field. Alyssa Hughes came in to pinch hit for Emily Monahan with two outs on the side and Jones on second, taking advantage of the runner in scoring position and driving a ball up the middle to score Jones and bring the score to 3-0 after five innings of play.
 
The Knights sparked a late-game comeback, scoring a run in each of the last two innings but the effort came up short as the Duhawks held on to take game one by a final score of 3-2.
 
Ashlyn Hemm got the start in the circle and through a complete game, holding the Knights scoreless until the sixth inning as she ended the game with four strikeouts, allowing a pair of runs on eight hits.
 
At the plate, the Duhawks tallied seven hits in the game, led by Schill who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double while Jones and Nicole Bendig each added a double as they both went 1-for-3. Houghton tallied two RBIs in the game on her two-run shot in the first inning while Hughes rounded on the Duhawks' scoring on her RBI single in the fifth.
 
In the second game of the day, the Knights got off to an early 4-0 lead on a wild pitch with bases loaded before Ella Link hit a three-run shot to jump ahead in the bottom of the first before plating another two runs in the third to go up by six.
 
The Duhawks' offense got going in the bottom half of the third inning as Morgan Machovec led the inning off with an infield single to third before Jadyn Anderson moved Machovec to third on a single to left field that saw her take second on the play. With runners on second and third, Jones knocked in Machovec on an RBI single into right before Payton Meier came in to pinch hit and brought home Anderson, reaching base on a fielding error. Hughes made an appearance pinch hitting for Emily Monahan and brought home two more runs on a triple down the right field line to cut the Duhawks' deficit to just two, bringing the score to 6-4 at the end of the third.
 
Wartburg's link hit her second home run of the game in the top half of the fourth inning to take the Knights back ahead by four at 8-4 but the Duhawks kept pushing forward in the bottom of the fifth. With one out on the side, Monahan hit a double down the left field line and stole third before coming home as Claire Peachey grounded out to short stop, bringing the score to 8-5.
 
The Knights brought home another run in the top of the sixth on an RBI ground out in the infield but the Duhawks ignited in the final moments of the game as Whitney Liepold drove a single to left field to lead the bottom of the seventh off. Monahan moved Liepold to second on a sacrifice bunt before Peachey hit an infield single that put runners on the corners for Donnell, who came in to pinch hit for Bendig. Donnell connected and drove a three-run homer over the wall in right center to bring the Duhawks back within one at 9-8 but the Knights held on to take the win and split the series.
 
Reagan Spence got the start in the circle for the Duhawks and threw 3.0 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, striking out two before Shandi Rulli came in to pitch 1.0 innings, allowing two runs on one hit with a strikeout. Hemm closed the game out, tossing the final 3.0 innings of the game, allowing only one run on two hits with four strikeouts.
 
The Duhawks rifled off 13 hits in the game, led by Anderson who went 3-for4 on the day while Machovec and Peachey each had two hits. Donnell led the Duhawks with three RBIs on her seventh inning home run while Monahan had the game's only double and Hughes had the game's only triple.
 
Loras returns to action on Tuesday, Apr. 19 as they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to take on the Kohawks from Coe College in an American Rivers Conference clash. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2:00 PM.