NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Mount Mary University softball team managed just five hits throughout Friday's double-header at North Central College as the Blue Angels fell 9-2 and 10-1 at Shanower Family Field on the campus of NCC.
MMU fell to 2-19 overall on the season, while the Cardinals improved to 11-11 overall.
GAME 1 – North Central 9, Mount Mary 2
Freshman Sam Allen's (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) 2-RBI double tied the game in the fifth, but North Central scored the final seven runs of the game to secure the opener, 9-2.
The Blue Angels were held to just four total hits in game one, with freshman Brianna Lupa (Plano, Ill./Plano) leading off with a double down the right field line in the second. Sophomore Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge) added a double of her own in the fourth, followed by a single by freshman Marissa Heraly (Brillion, Wis./Brillion). Yet, the host Cardinals escaped with an ensuing groundout to stifle the threat.
Entering the fifth trailing 2-0 after NCC runs in the first and second innings, MMU got things cooking. Junior Taylor Hienbuecher (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) reached base on a Cardinal miscue, senior Hannah Harnsberger (Hillsoro, Ore./Jesuit) was hit by pitch, and junior Lauren Nylund (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) earned a walk to load the bases with nobody out. A comebacker to the mound wiped away two Blue Angels, but Allen's clutch shot to left center scored Harnsberger and Nylund to lock the game at two apiece.
North Central took full advantage of two MMU errors in the home half of the fifth, utilizing small ball to record a gut-wrenching five runs off four hits to surge back into the lead. It would add two more unearned runs in the sixth to all but seal the victory.
Lupa fell to 2-10 overall on the season in the circle, giving up 10 hits while issuing five walks and striking out three. Of the nine NCC runs scored, only four were earned.
GAME 2 – North Central 10, Mount Mary 1
Mount Mary mustered just one hit—that coming in the very first inning—as North Central cruised to the series sweep with a 10-1 win.
A two-out walk to Ecker in the first inning was one of the few blemishes the North Central starting pitcher had all day, and Lupa made it count with an ensuing deep double to crack open the scoring. There would be no other Blue Angel on base the rest of the game.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Gilpin (Lyons, Ill./Lyons Township) took the loss in game two, falling to 0-5 on the year. The starter gave up 12 hits and struck out one, with just seven of the 10 runs earned.
On Deck for MMU
The Blue Angels will take a full week off in preparation for a home-and-home series with Maranatha Baptist next Friday and Saturday. Friday's home double-header at 5Diamonds Softball Complex in Waukesha, Wis., will be the Blue Angels' lone regular season home games of the year. In addition to softball Senior Day, MMU Athletics will celebrate graduating seniors across all six sports teams in an All-Sport Senior Celebration between games one and two. First pitch for game one is slated for 3 p.m.
