APPLETON, Wis. – The Mount Mary softball squad fought hard in the second game, but was shut out in Thursday's double-header at Lawrence University, 27-0 and 8-0. The loss drops the Blue Angels to 0-10 on the year, finally reaching double-digits in games played just one week before the season finale.
Sophomore catcher-turned-pitcher Katie Edwards (Mackinaw, Ill.) took to the circle in both games against the Vikings, and despite a rocky start, finished the day very strong. Though the Blue Angel offense mustered just three hits on the day—two by Edwards herself—as Mount Mary is still looking for its first win of the year.
Edwards got started early at the plate in game one for Mount Mary, pushing a hard hit ball through the left side in the first inning. Unfortunately, it was one of few balls put in play by the Blue Angels, as Lawrence sat down the next 11 batters in order. Freshman Michelle Argenzio (Brookfield, Wis.) picked up her second hit of the season with a slap through the left side, but those were the only two hits of the game as the Blue Angels fell 27-0 in five innings.
Game two started out very positively for Mount Mary, as Edwards showed great perseverance from the pitching rubber. After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Vikings finally put a trio of runs across in the second and added another three runs in the third to take a 6-0 lead after three innings. While they kept the game close, the Blue Angels just couldn't put any offense together before Edwards blasted a single off the centerfield wall in the top of the fourth.
Edwards' shot broke up what would end up being a near-perfect game for Lawrence's starting pitcher, who tallied nine groundouts, three flyouts and six strikeouts against 19 batters faced through six innings of work.
Edwards recorded her best pitching game of the season, giving up 12 hits and just five earned runs through 5.2 innings of work. She walked five and struck out two while causing 10 Viking groundouts and 5 flyouts against 36 batters faced.
Despite Edwards' solid efforts, Mount Mary was again plagued by defensive errors, as the Blue Angels recorded six blunders in the first game and three more in the second. Some timely hitting, paired with a clean defensive game are about all this squad needs to pick up that elusive first season win.
The Blue Angels will continue their busy week ahead as the compacted season draws to a close. Friday Mount Mary will see its home-opener at Hart Park against Cardinal Stritch University, in double-header fashion at 3 pm and 5 pm. Saturday the Blue Angels host North Park University at Noon and 2 pm, before finishing off an eight-game-in-four-day stretch against MSOE at 11 am and 1 pm Sunday. Stay tuned to our social media profiles (Facebook and Twitter) for the latest schedule changes.
