Peoria, IL- The Mount Mary University softball team opened their season with a 2 day, 4 game stretch in Peoria, Illinois on Thursday and Friday. Many of the signs of last season's record setting team were apparent as the Blue Angels split four games, with wins over Finlandia and Knox.
In the season opener against the Lions of Finlandia University, Brianna Lupa appeared to be ready to be one of the most dominant pitchers in NCAA division 3 for a second consecutive season. She struck out nine Finlandia hitters, while allowing only one run and three hits in her five innings of work.
The Blue Angels started fast offensively, plating 10 runs in the first four innings. Sam Allen, Marissa Heraly and Crystal Peterson each had two hits and drove in two runs in the season opener.
In Thursday's second game, Mount Mary took on the Vikings of Augustana. MMU could not generate significant offense and fell by a final score of 8-0.
Friday's first game saw Mount Mary take on the Prairie Fire of Knox College. The game could not have been much closer, stretching into extra innings where the Blue Angels pushed across 2 runs for a 3-1 win. Lupa went the distance in the pitching circle, grabbing her second victory of the young season. Micaela Gonzales sparked much of the Blue Angel offense, a trend that has continued from last season. She tallied two base hits and a run batted in against Knox, and scored what proved to be the decisive run in inning number 8.
Notably, the Blue Angels had zero errors in the game against Knox, a huge factor in pulling out the close victory.
In a second match up against Augustana, MMU was unable to grab their first back to back wins of the 2023 season, falling to the Vikings by a 20-1 final.
Head Coach Perry Clark commented on the season's first four games, "I enjoy the first games of the season. It exposes weaknesses that you might not have been aware of and there are always pleasant unexpected surprises. Overall, our infield had a solid weekend but we need to improve in the outfield, and our hitting needs to improve throughout the lineup. We will have a short week to prepare for more games on Thursday and Friday and then off to Florida."
The Blue Angels (2-2) will head back to Peoria for the second set of games in the Blue Angel Invite. MMU will play 5 games between Thursday, March 2nd and Friday March 3rd. Their first opponent will be the Lumber Jills of Northland College, on Thursday at 2 pm. All coverage of Mount Mary softball can be found on www.mtmaryathletics.com
