KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 17, 2023) – There's been no shortage of excitement for the Loras College softball team during its spring trip, and Friday proved to be no different as the Duhawks split a pair of one-run games on their penultimate day of action at the THE Spring Games.

A solo home run for sophomore Emily Monahan was all the Duhawks needed in a 1-0 win over Bethel University in game one on Friday ahead of a low-scoring game with North Park University that saw the Duhawks fall 3-2.

Loras 1, Bethel 0
The sophomore second baseman Monahan picked a grand time for her first collegiate home run as it broke the stalemate in the top of the seventh inning. Monahan connected on the first pitch of the at-bat with a shot to straightaway centerfield that proved to be enough offense to earn the Duhawks their third shutout win in a row.

To that point in the game, Loras had left four runners on base and had mustered only two other hits as the game could only be described as a pitchers' duel. Bethel's starter Kayla Simacek went the distance and allowed only the one earned run and just three hits while striking out 16 Duhawk hitters.

Sophomore Shandi Rulli and freshman Rachel Peat were just as good in the circle for the Duhawks as they combined to throw 7.0 innings and allow only three Bethel hits.

North Park 3, Loras 2
These familiar foes, who will meet again in Chicago next weekend, struggled to get much offense created on Friday as they went into the fifth inning with the score tied at 0-0.

In the top half, the Vikings tallied three hits, two of which stayed in the infield, to load the bases with two outs against Peat, who had just come on in relief. Maddy Tan smacked a three-RBI double into right centerfield for the Vikings to put them up 3-0 with just one swing, but a Duhawk error in the frame meant all three runs would end up being unearned.

Loras rallied in the bottom half as Monahan reached on an error and freshman Ava Franklin reached on a single to lead off the inning. An RBI groundout for junior Nicole Bendig and an RBI single for sophomore Whitney Leipold drew the Duhawks to within one, but that was all they'd get before falling 3-2.

Loras concludes its spring trip with two more games on Saturday, March 18, in Clermont, Fla., starting with a 9 A.M. ET matchup with Bowdoin College.