May 3, 2023 – The Loras College softball team knew it needed to take at least one game in its Wednesday afternoon doubleheader, but the Duhawks went ahead and grabbed two wins to secure a place in the upcoming American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament.

The Duhawks (20-13, 8-6 A-R-C) took down the rival Spartans (11-25, 4-10 A-R-C) by scores of 3-2 and 8-4 to lock themselves into the postseason for the first time since 2018. Both teams joined forces on Wednesday for Strikeout Cancer Day that featured raffles and other donation options to benefit the Tori's Angels Foundation.

Loras 3, Dubuque 2
The Duhawks got out ahead early on in the first leg of the rivalry series as two runs came home on a chaotic play in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Ava Franklin laced an RBI single through the left side to score sophomore Payton Meier for the game's first run, and an error on the Dubuque pitcher on the cutoff throw allowed sophomore Morgan Machovec to score a second run and push the lead to 2-0.

Loras added another unearned run in the third inning when Meier singled home junior Alyssa Hughes after another error from the Spartans kept the inning alive in the prior at bat.

That turned out to be just enough offense for the Duhawks and sophomore starter Ashlyn Hemm as Dubuque didn't find the scoreboard until the fifth inning when one unearned run cut the lead to 3-1. After a Dariann Diorio homer in the top of the sixth, the Spartans found themselves within one heading to the seventh, but Hemm worked around a one-out walk to lock down the opening game win for Loras.

Hemm earned her fifth win in her last five starts with another strong performance that saw her toss all seven innings while allowing only six hits, two runs (one earned), and one walk compared to eight strikeouts.

Loras 8, Dubuque 4
After surviving in game one, the Duhawks left no doubts in game two as they started off the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. A hard-hit grounder from senior Grace Houghton forced another Dubuque error and led to two runners coming home for the first two runs of the frame before a sac fly from Hughes made it 3-0.

Hughes added on to the scoring again in the bottom of the fifth as her RBI-double scored senior Abby Jones and made it 4-0 ahead of an RBI bunt single from Machovec to extend the lead even further. Dubuque finally got on the board with a solo home run from Deanna Salerno in the sixth inning, but Loras pounced again in the bottom half with three more runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single from Houghton.  

Sophomore starter Shandi Rulli was as good as she has been all season on Wednesday afternoon, but she ran out of steam in the seventh inning as three hits, including a two-run homer for Cayla Cavanagh, kept her just two outs shy of a complete game. Freshman Rachel Peat came on for the final two outs to help secure the Duhawk sweep.

Rulli's strong outing saw her allow just six hits and four runs while walking only one and striking out a career-high seven hitters.

Loras is home again on Saturday, May 6, for a Senior Day doubleheader against Central College at 1 & 3 P.M. to close out the regular season.