WATERTOWN, Wis. – The Mount Mary University softball team earned its second straight double-header sweep in as many days, beating Maranatha Baptist 14-3 and 12-0 in a pair of five-inning games Saturday afternoon at Brandt-Quirk Park.
Mount Mary improves to 6-19 on the season, while MBU ends its season at 3-13. The quartet of victories Friday and Saturday extended its series win streak to 27, and upped its all-time record against Maranatha Baptist to 37-8 overall.
GAME 1 – MMU 14, Maranatha Baptist 3
While perhaps not the cleanest of outings for the Blue Angels, they found a way to grit out the victory thanks to timely hitting—several for extra bases—and lockdown pitching over the final few frames.
After MMU scored a run in the first frame, the Sabercats responded with two in the bottom half to take their first lead of the two-day series. MMU would snatch back the lead with a three-run second, then add four in the third and six in the fifth.
Offensively, nine different Blue Angels recorded a hit in the opener, including a 3-for-4 appearance from sophomore Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge), who also tallied an RBI and scored a run. Freshman Marissa Heraly (Brillion, Wis./Brillion) was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and run scored. Junior Taylor Hienbuecher (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) was 2-for-3, tying junior Lauren Nylund (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) with a team-high three runs scored.
Junior Aislinn Strusz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) and freshman Sam Allen (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) each recorded three RBI apiece, with Nylund adding a pair of her own. The total team effort continued with nine players scoring a run and seven batters recording an RBI.
MMU outhit MBU 15-3, with six hits coming in extra-base fashion. Allen and Ecker each recorded a bases-clearing triple, and Allen and Heraly matched Strusz's pair of doubles in game one.
Sophomore Jalyssa Rivera (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) took to the circle in the opener, giving up just three hits and one earned run in two innings of work. Sophomore Kaitlyn Gilpin (Lyons, Ill./Lyons Township) entered in relief and secured her first winning decision of the season, holding the Sabercats hitless while striking out three over the final three innings.
GAME 2 – MMU 12, Maranatha Baptist 0
Freshman Brianna Lupa (Plano, Ill./Plano) set a season high with eight strikeouts and held the Maranatha Baptist batters to just three total hits to score her third win of the season in the circle in dominating fashion.
MBU hit a pair of infield singles in the second inning and a one-out double in the fourth, but Lupa efficiently threw 65 pitches—49 for strikes—to 18 Sabercat batters faced over five innings of work.
Offensively, the Blue Angels racked up 12 hits and 10 walks in the second act of Saturday's twin bill. Strusz finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double and Allen went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two doubles and a run scored as the leadoff and No. 2 batters did much of the heavy lifting.
They were not without support, however, with junior Jacklyn Mozdzen (Wautoma, Wis./Wautoma) going 2-for-2 with two RBI and a team-high four runs scored. Junior Karley Vega (Milwaukee, Wis./West Allis Central) went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, and Heraly and sophomore Shawna Butler (Ely, Minn./Ely) each picked up an RBI of their own.
ON DECK FOR MMU
The Blue Angels have a very busy week ahead with games scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Tuesday's matchup will send Mount Mary to the Lakeland University Softball Field in Plymouth, Wis. First pitch for Game One of the double-header is slated for 3:00 pm.
