PEORIA, Ill. (March 4, 2023) – Four games down for the Loras College softball team as the Duhawks have started their 2023 slate with a 2-2 record after games on Thursday and Friday at the Blue Angel Invite in the Louisville Slugger Dome in Peoria, Ill.

The Duhawks (2-2) split day one on Thursday as they fell to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 7-3 in their season opener before responding with a resounding 11-3 (F/5) win over Northland College. On Friday, the Duhawks dropped game one 5-2 to Edgewood College and finished their opening trip with an 8-4 win over Augustana College.

UW-Stevens Point 7, Loras 3
The Duhawks got on the board first in this one as senior Grace Houghton started the season off in exciting fashion, belting a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to mark Loras' first hit of the 2023 season.

That excitement didn't translate to the field as the Duhawks committed three errors in the next half inning, leading to three runs for the Pointers. UWSP followed that up with another run in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth pull away before taking a 7-3 win.

Loras 11, Northland 3 (F/5)
Game two of Loras' first day saw the Duhawks bounce back for a mercy-rule victory over the LumberJills.

With the game knotted at 2-2, the Duhawks hung seven runs on the board in the top of the fourth inning to blow it open for their first big lead of the year. All seven runs were earned as the Duhawks tallied eight hits in the frame with the big blow coming on a three-run homer from junior first baseman Alyssa Hughes.

Senior right fielder Abby Jones added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the fifth with a two-RBI single to finish things off for the Duhawks. Freshman pitcher Rachel Peat earned the win in her first collegiate start, going 4.0 innings and allowing only five hits, two earned runs, and one walk while striking out seven batters.

Edgewood 5, Loras 2
On day two, the Duhawks and Eagles played in the early window as their 8 A.M. game went scoreless through one inning, but a solo homer for sophomore leftfielder Whitney Leipold gave Loras a 1-0 advantage. Leipold scored Loras' second run of the game in the top of the fourth as she crossed home on a wild pitch after leading off the inning with a single.

Edgewood hung a five spot on the Duhawks in the bottom half of the frame, which proved to be the deciding moment in the game.  The Eagles tallied just two hits and took advantage of two Loras errors and three free passes to plate all five of their runs in the of the game in that one inning as Loras finished with a 5-3 advantage in hits.

Loras 8, Augustana 4
Just as they did the day before, the Duhawks bounced back to score an 8-4 win over Augustana to finish the week at 2-2. Both teams took their turn trading big blows early on as Loras tallied three runs in the bottom of the first before Augie tacked on four in the next half-inning.

In the fourth, the Duhawks put up another three spot in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead, then added two more to put some space between them before finishing out an 8-4 win. Houghton and sophomore second baseman Emily Monahan each had two RBIs in the game as Houghton finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double. Sophomore pitcher Ashlyn Hemm earned the win after coming on in relief in the second inning as she held the Vikings hitless in the final 5.2 innings.

Loras heads off to THE Spring Games in Florida next week to play 10 games, starting with Farmingdale State College on March 13 at 2 P.M. in Kissimmee, Fla.