ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College softball team dropped both games of a non-conference doubleheader to Crown College by the scores of 6-5 and 9-1 (six innings) on Saturday.
In game one, MLC sophomore
Elena Hoffman hit her 15th career home run, tying her with Karla Opperman (2008-11) for the school record.
Hoffman previously tied the MLC home run record with eight in 2019, and then hit six home runs in last year's abbreviated season.Â
Crown 6, MLC 5
Crown jumped on top early and held on late to win game one 6-5.
MLC opened the game with a run in the top of the first inning, but Crown answered with three runs in each of the second and third innings to take a 6-1 lead.
The Knights cut into the deficit thanks to RBI hits by
Samantha Schoch and
Halley Engelbrecht in the fifth inning, and then added one run on a
Lisa Hoffer single in the sixth to cut the Crown lead to 6-4.
Hoffman hit her record-tying home run to lead off the seventh, but the Knights stranded runners on second and third base to end the game.Â
MLC outhit the Storm 13-6 in the game, but was unable to take advantage as it left nine runners on base.
Jordyn Heckendorf,
Lexi Fischer,
Emma Berg, Hoffer, Hoffman and Schoch each finished with two hits apiece.
Brett Burger (0-3) went the distance on the mound for the Knights, allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks in six innings.
Crown 9, MLC 1 (six innings)
Crown scored eight times in the final four innings on the way to a 9-1 win in game two in six innings.Â
Berg's RBI single in the second inning erased an early Crown lead, but the Storm answered with a pair of runs in the third inning, and then scored three times in both the fourth and sixth innings to earn the win.
MLC finished with seven hits, led by a pair of singles from Hoffer, Fischer and Berg.
Megan Pung (0-3) started the game for MLC and allowed six runs on eight hits in four innings of work.
MLC fell to 0-6 on the season following the two defeats, while Crown improved to 3-7 after the two wins.
The Knights will return to action on Monday, April 5, when they travel to Minnesota Morris for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
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