ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Mount Mary University softball team split wins with the Beloit College Buccaneers in their doubleheader today in the Rockford Dome. The Blue Angels won game one 6-0, then Beloit (1-1) won the second game by a score of 5-4.
Adrianna Nester (Sr./Anaheim, Calif.) helped the Blue Angels on both sides of the field today against the Bucs. Nester got the start at pitcher in game one and struck out ten batters in her first start of 2020. The senior went 7.0 innings giving up only two hits in the shutout.
On offense, Nester batted third in the order against Beloit. Nester finished a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs and two extra base hits.
Haley Jacquez (Sr./Oakley, Calif.) batted in the leadoff spot in game one for MMU and went 2-of-4 from the plate. Newcomer Brianna Ecker (Fr./Fond du Lac, Wis.) batted in the clean-up spot for the Blue Angels and drove in a team high two RBIs along with Nester.
In the top half of the third inning, the Blue Angels led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Adrianna Nester stepped into the box with one out in the inning and lined a triple to right field that scored a pair of runners. Ecker followed up the two-RBI triple with a sacrafice fly to left field that gave MMU a 3-0 lead.
Small-ball gave MMU an additional run in the fourth inning. Aislinn Strusz (So./Aurora, Ill.) led off the fourth with single to center field. Strusz moved to second base on a wild pitch, then the Blue Angels laid down a sac bunt to move Strusz over to third. The next at-bat, Hannah Harnsberger (Sr./Hillsboro, Ore.) struckout swinging, but when the opposing catcher dropped the third strike, Harnsberger made it to first safely and gave Strusz enough room to cross the plate to make the score 4-0.
MMU added a run in the sixth inning on a Beloit fielding error. In the seventh, Nester led off the inning with a double, then was hit home on an Ecker single the very next at-bat.
The Blue Angels sent Hayley Smalley to the circle to get the start at pitcher in game two. Smalley went 6.1 innings against the Bucs and struck out three batters in game two. Smalley held the Bucs to five runs, four earned, off ten hits.
On offense, the Blue Angels were led by first basemen Taylor Hienbuecher (So./Sycamore, Ill.). Hienbuecher went 3-of-4 from the plate and led MMU with two RBIs. One of the two RBIs was a game-tying RBI in the top half of the seventh.
Smalley went 2-of-3 from the dish in the second game and drove in a run for the Blue Angels as well.
Lauren Nylund (So./Muskego, Wis.) reached first base on an error hitting second in game two. Smalley drilled a single to left field to give the Blue Angels the 1-0 lead.
Hannah Harnsberger singled in the second and advanced to second base on a play on the runner in front of her. Harnsberger then gave MMU the 2-0 lead when Nylund struck out swinging and BC's catcher dropped the third strike.
The Bucs responded in the bottom of the third after a lead off error scored on a single. A total three hits led to a pair of runs and a tie game. Beloit added two more in the fourth, again the two runs came off three hits and an error.
A lead off single by Smalley led to a score for the Blue Angels. Hienbuecher singled with two outs in the inning and drove home the pinch runner at second base.
Down 4-3, the Blue Angels were down to their final three outs. Nylulnd reached on an error by the Bucs. After Nylund's teammates advanced her to third base, Hienbuecher singled to left field to tie the game at 4-4.
The Bucs came back in the bottom half of the inning and scored the game-winning off a pair of singles.
MMU returns to action on Sat./ Feb. 29 when the team heads to Rochester, Minn. to play four games in two days. Check out MtMaryAthletics.com for scores and details.
