MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Mount Mary softball team finished up its Northern Exposure trek to the Finlandia Dome Tournament Sunday, dropping its final two games 11-0 to Edgewood College and 20-2 to Concordia University-Wisconsin.
Improvement was the theme of the weekend, as the Blue Angels got off to a great start against Edgewood in Day Two. The Eagles pushed a run across in the first inning, and a pair of fly-outs in the bottom half of the second made it appear MMU was heading into the dugout with some defensive momentum, but a pair of untimely Blue Angel errors led to eight straight unearned runs.
While those errors were the only two of the game for Mount Mary, they turned what would have been a 3-0 game into an 11-0 abbreviated 5-inning final score.
Despite arguably its best defensive effort of the tournament, the Angels could not catch up with Edgewood hurler Jackie Diesch, who held MMU to just three hits in the game.
Senior Katie Wolk (Oshkosh, Wis.) ripped a double down the left field line in the second inning, but she would be stranded at second. Sophomore Nicole Weggen (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) pushed a single through the right side and junior Katie Edwards (Mackinaw, Ill.) sent the ensuing at-bat back up the middle to put two Blue Angels on in the fourth, but neither would cross the plate in Sunday's morning matchup.
After a two-hour break, the Angels returned to play Milwaukee-area rival Concordia-Wisconsin, who was hungry for its first victory of the tournament. The Falcons dominated from the first at-bat, blasting a solo homerun in what would be a rather lopsided final score.
The Blue Angels were held hitless through the fourth inning against CUW when Wolk singled through the gap and advanced to second on the throw by the right fielder. Weggen pasted one past the CUW shortstop to score freshman Lauren Wiech (Colgate, Wis.), who had led off the inning with a walk. Edwards then hit a deep fly ball—just feet from recording her second homerun of the tournament—to center field, scoring Weggen for MMU's only two runs of the game.
Despite taking both losses in the circle Sunday, Wiech showed true grit by throwing six straight innings for Mount Mary.
The Blue Angels will continue its spring tournament run a week from today, traveling to Fort Myers, Fla., for the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. The four-day, eight-game slate will include opponents from five different states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York and Michigan.
Mount Mary kicks off the tournament Monday at Noon CT against Franklin & Marshall College (Pa.). Stay tuned to MMU Athletics social media for the latest updates from Florida's Gulf Coast.
