LEESBURG, Fla. – The Loras College softball team is off to a 1-3 start in THE Spring Games. The Duhawks fell to North Park University and Meredith College on Monday, before coming up short against Ursinus College and then beating Catholic University on Tuesday.
Game One: Loras 3, North Park University 5
After a scoreless first two innings,
Ava Franklin opened the scoring with an RBI double that plated
Whitney Leipold. Loras (4-3) added another run in the fourth frame thanks to a
Gillian Jones RBI groundout before getting another run in the fifth after
Olivia Martinelli singled to bring
Karlee Berge around to score. The Vikings (2-1) would go on to score five unanswered runs to close out the game.
Game Two: Loras 1, Meredith College 2
Game two for the Duhawks (4-4) featured a classic pitchers duel between Meredith's Lillie Davis and
Kiya Steger with both pitchers giving up a combined nine hits. Meredith got on the board first after a Steger passed ball. The Avenging Angels (5-8) plated their final run in the third. Loras responded in the following inning with an RBI base hit off the bat of
Bailey Welu.
The Purple and Gold got the tying run on third base in the top of the seventh but fell short of their comeback bid.
Game Three: Loras 4, Ursinus College 3
Ursinus (6-3) scored the game's first three runs, getting a run in the first inning and two more in the fourth.
Rachel Peat put the Duhawks (5-4) on the board with an RBI single that scored
Emily Monahan. Steger and Pilcher provided Loras with two runs in the sixth frame, but it was not enough as Ursinus shut down the Duhawk offense in the seventh.
Game Four: Loras 12, Catholic University 8
There was no shortage of offense in this game that featured runs in every inning and a combined 24 hits between the two squads.
Catholic (8-2) was quick to strike, scoring a run in the top half of the first inning.
Katherine Svigelj responded with a RBI base hit, bringing home Leipold and Pilcher in the bottom of the second. After both teams scored in the third frame, the Duhawk offense exploded for a five run fourth inning. In the inning, Monahan led off with a base hit before scoring on an error. Franklin delivered a fielder's choice that plated Svigelj, who reached on a base hit. Steger then provided an RBI groundout followed by a
Kaili Henning base hit that brought Franklin across home plate. Machovec ended the scoring by reaching on an error that allowed Henning to score.
The Purple and Gold (5-5) followed up the five-run fourth inning with a four-run fifth inning to take control of the game. The Duhawks held a five-run lead heading into the final frame and held onto that lead, ultimately winning the game 12-8.
Up Next: Loras returns to action on Thursday, March 13 as they take on DeSales University and Wheaton College (Mass.). First pitch is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. (ET) and 1:30 p.m. (ET). The Duhawks will then play two more games on Friday, March 14, before finishing THE Spring Games with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 15.
