Bismarck, N.D.—The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team traveled west for a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader with the University of Mary Marauders.
The Marauders kept the Golden Eagle bats silent through the double header, holding Minnesota Crookston to just four runs in 14 innings to sweep the Golden Eagles by scores of 5-2 and 8-2.
With the two victories, the Marauders improve to 15-19 overall and 6-8 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles fall to 13-25 overall and 2-12 in the NSIC.
Game One
In game one, both teams were held in check for the first three innings of the ball game, but the Golden Eagles struck first with a Sam Proctor (Jr., C, Champlin, Minn.) two RBI single to centerfield that scored
Maggie Morales (Sr., 3B, Tuscon, Ariz.) and
Tavia Lawson (So., OF/C, Hawley, Minn.), to put the Golden Eagles up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning.
Trailing 2-0, the Marauder bats would wake up in the bottom of the fourth. Emily De Jonge got things going for the Marauders with a single that scored Paige Matsuki, to cut the Golden Eagle lead to 2-1.
Two batters later, Kasidy Chileen would give the Marauders the lead for good with a two RBI single that scored De Jonge and Haley Berube.
The Marauders would score two more insurance runs in the fourth inning and would end into the fifth inning with a three run lead, at 5-2.
That three run lead would be enough for the Marauders, who held off the Golden Eagles to win the ball game 5-2.
The Golden Eagles did have five hits in the game, but did leave eight runners on the base paths in the game. Proctor had two hits, while Morales, Mika Rodriguez (Jr., SS, Laveen, Ariz.) and
Hannah Macias (Fr., OF, West Covina, Calif.) each had one hit.
Paige Pitlick (Jr., P, Jordan, Minn.) got the start in the circle and went 3.1 innings on the day, while giving up four runs, all of which were earned on four hits. Pitlick allowed three walks and struck out two Marauder hitters. Pitlick falls to 6-14 on the season.
Mikayla Jones (Sr., P, Huxley, Iowa) came in for relief of Pitlick and gave up one run on three hits in 2.2 innings pitched.
Game Two
The Golden Eagles would look to bounce back in game two as Jones would get the start in the circle.
The Marauders jumped all over Jones, scoring one run in the first and second inning and two runs in the third off of Jones.
With the Golden Eagles down 4-0,
Taylor Graven (So., P, Greene, Iowa) came in for relief of Jones. The Golden Eagles scored two runs off of Graven in relief.
With the Golden Eagles down 6-0, the Golden Eagles would try to chip away as Proctor scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Marauder lead to five, at 6-1. In the same inning,
Hannah Macias drove in
Haley Strachan (Sr., OF, Phoenix, Ariz.) to make it a 6-2 game.
The Marauders added insurance in the bottom half of the inning on a Kylie Alto two-run homerun to make the score 8-2, which turned out to be the final score.
The Golden Eagles did have eight hits as a team on the day, including two from leadoff hitter
Hannah Macias, who also had an RBI on the day. The Golden Eagles left six runners on base.
In the circle, Jones earned the start and went 2.1 innings, while allowing four runs on seven hits. Jones struck out seven. Graven came in for Jones and allowed four runs, all of which were earned and allowed seven hits.
Darian Pancirov (Fr., P/1B, Las Vegas, Nev.) finished the game off and arguably had her best outing as a Golden Eagle. Pancirov went 2.0 innings and put up zeroes, in both the run and hit columns.
Minnesota Crookston will be back in action this weekend as they host Winona State and Upper Iowa on Saturday and Sunday. Both games are doubleheaders, with both first games scheduled for 12 p.m., weather permitting.
