ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College softball team swept a Crown College team that entered the day in first place in the UMAC by the scores of 4-3 and 7-2 on Friday.

MLC 4, Crown 3

MLC came back from an early three-run deficit to win game one 4-3.

The Storm scored once in each of the first three innings, but MLC responded with one run in the fourth and fifth frames, and then took the lead in the sixth with a pair of runs. 

The Knights took advantage of four Crown errors, as well as several passed balls to scrape together their four runs. Aimee Ashman and Jodi Halvorson scored the tying and winning runs, respectively, after reaching base on errors in the sixth inning. 

Rebecca Pruss (4-8) entered the game in the fourth inning for starting pitcher Morgan Palubicki and earned her fourth win of the season. Pruss allowed only one hit and one walk in four shutout relief innings. 

MLC 7, Crown 2

After coming from behind to win game one, MLC secured the doubleheader sweep with a 7-2 win in game two.

MLC jumped on top early with a three-run second inning thanks to runs batted in from Ashman, Halvorson and Brett Burger. After the Storm cut the lead to one, MLC scored once in the fourth and three more times in the seventh to put the game away.

The Knights out-hit the Storm 11-6 in the game, led by three hits from first-year catcher Erika Rosenbaum. 

Pruss (5-8) once again earned the win in relief of Palubicki, allowing two unearned runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

MLC improved its record to 8-16 on the season and 5-7 in UMAC play with the sweep. Crown fell to 16-14 overall and 9-3 in league play following the two defeats.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, April 28) when they travel to Northwestern-St. Paul for a doubleheader against Northland College. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.