Eureka, IL- Taking the field Saturday against Eureka College, the Mount Mary softball team had not played a game in exactly two weeks.
The Blue Angels competed hard in both ends of the doubleheader, but fell in both games to Eureka by finals of 5-2 and 7-1.
The theme of the day for MMU was runners left on base, in the two games combined Mount Mary left 21 runners on base and were a few clutch hits away from different outcomes on the day.
Game one went to the Red Devils by a score of 5-2, the game was tied until the bottom of the third when the Red Devils plated two runs to go up 3-1. MMU would pull within one run in the top of 5th but could not rally to tie the score. Brianna Lupa was 2 for 3 at the plate with both MMU runs batted in and a stolen base. She also went the distance in the pitching circle, striking out three Eureka hitters.
Eureka shot out to a 7-0 lead in game two but Mount Mary nearly staged a remarkable comeback. Trailing 7-1, the Blue Angels loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 7th. Unfortunately, a game tying rally was not to be as Brianna Ecker hit a line drive in the most unfortunate spot. It was caught by the pitcher which led to a game ending double play.
Mount Mary had ten hits in game two, just not at the clutch moments when they were most needed. Katelyn McCallum and Alexandria Eads each had two hits for the Blue Angels, and Ecker tallied the run batted in for MMU.
MMU (1-14) will next be in action on Friday, March 29th. The Blue Angels will take on Elmhurst University in a doubleheader. The games are scheduled for 11 AM and 1 PM and will be played in Rosemont, Illinois. Earlier this season, Mount Mary fell to Elmhurst by a 13-4 score. All coverage of Mount Mary softball can be found here on www.mtmaryathletics.com
