NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College softball team split its doubleheader against Crown College on Monday, losing game one 9-6 before winning game two 2-1.

Crown 9, MLC 6

The Storm scored nine times in the final four innings on the way to a 9-6 win in game one.

The Knights took advantage of a pair of Crown errors to take a 2-0 lead after three innings, but the Storm scored three times in both the fourth and fifth innings off MLC starting pitcher Rebecca Pruss to take a 6-3 lead after six. 

After the Storm scored three times off MLC relief pitcher Kelli Doell in the top of the seventh inning, the Knights rallied to score three runs in their last at bat before Crown secured the final out.

Pruss (5-5) took the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits in six innings. Aimee Ashmann, Kayla Rosenbaum and Rebecca Doering each finished with two hits apieca for MLC.

MLC 2, Crown 1

The Knights secured a split with a 2-1 win in game two thanks to a terrific pitching performance from Morgan Palubicki.

Palubicki (4-9) pitched all seven innings and allowed only one run on five hits and didn't walk any Storm hitters. She was also helped by a strong defensive performance that didn't commit an error in the game, and featured important plays by Megan Lemke, Ashman and Rosenbaum.

Jessica Friebe scored the first MLC run thanks to a Doell single in the first inning, and the Knights took the lead in the fourth inning on an Audrey Timm sacrifice fly that scored Lemke from third base.

The Knights moved to 13-18 on the season and 6-8 in UMAC play following the split. Crown's record is now 13-21 overall and 11-3 in conference play.

MLC will return to action on Thursday, April 27, when it travels to Viterbo for a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.