Myrtle Beach, SC - On Monday, March 6, the Knights took on Bay Path College and Penn State - Mont Alto. The Knights faired well with Bay Path, defeating the Wildcats 14-10. MLC would then drop their final game of the trip to Mont Alto in an 8-0 loss that ended in 5 innings.
MLC 14, Bay Path College 10
MLC was held scoreless through 3 innings, but regathered their offensive stride with a 6-run fourth inning. The Knights had been trailing 5-0 up until that moment, but took their first lead of the game with the big inning. From there the Wildcats were unable to keep up with the MLC bats and the Knights marched on to their 14-10 win.
Lisa Hoffer continued her stout play at the plate with another multi-hit game (4) to go along with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored.
Jordyn Heckendorf sured up the clean up spot in the lineup and knocked in 2 RBI. Meanwhile,
Anna Busch and
Hannah Ott each contributed with 3 base hits that further displayed the well balanced attack of MLC's offense.
The Knights had both
Jessica Horn and
Madison Uhlenbrauck pitch to help them hold off Bay Path. Horn pitched 3 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits on 42 pitches thrown. Uhlenbrauck threw 4 innings, surrendering 5 runs, but did throw 3 strikeouts.
Penn State - Mont Alto 8, MLC 0 (5 innings)
MLC had difficulty solving the Nittany Lions' starting pitcher, Kirsten Dell. The pitcher threw a complete game shutout and struck out 7 MLC batters on only 4 hits allowed.
The Knights 4 base hits came from Hoffer, Heckendorf, Ott, and
Emmalee Mindock who all had 1 apiece. Horn (1-5) would toss 2.1 innings, giving up 8 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits. Uhlenbrauck came in once again as a relief pitcher and the sophomore pitched 1.2 innings allowing nor uns on 3 hits.
MLC finished the trip with a record of (3-5) and head coach
Becca Doering saw much improvement from her squad and said, "The girls played incredibly hard this weekend. The growth the coaches saw was absolutely amazing. We are coming back to Minnesota with a bit of confidence and knowledge of what we need to work on. Our team is looking forward to the conference season."
The Knights return to the softball diamond on Tuesday, March 28, where they will face Viterbo for their first home game of the season.