New Ulm, MN - The MLC softball team had its home opener against Crown on Tuesday afternoon. The Knights were unable to grab a win in the doubleheader, as the Polars defeated MLC 8-6 in the first matchup and 10-3 in the second game.
Crown 8, MLC 6
The Polars cracked open the game with a three-run first inning, but MLC would find their offensive groove with one run in the second, followed by a four-run bottom of the third. The Knights would capitalize off of multiple fielding miscues from Crown and took their first lead of the game, 6-3.
From there,
Jessica Horn settled into her pitches and kept the Crown hitters off balance, mixing up solid off-speed pitches in her arsenal. The right-hander would hold the Polars scoreless since the top of the first inning.
Horn would take her impressive pitching performance into the top of the seventh, but would surrender five runs to Crown, which was fueled by consecutive doubles. Maria Lilienthal ultimately gave the Polars their first lead since the first inning, as they would go up 8-6.Â
The Knights would have a final chance in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game in walk-off fashion, but were unable to create some magic and fell to Crown 8-6.
Jordyn Heckendorf led MLC at the plate, going 3-4 with two runs scored. Despite the loss for Horn, the pitcher did show a long stretch of consistency and struck out three Crown batters, while pitching a complete game.
Crown 10, MLC 3
The Polars used the momentum from their comeback in game one, to put the Knights away early on through two innings, where they jumped out to an 8-1 lead. The Polars decided to be aggressive on the basepads and displayed fundamental baseball skills to get in scoring position.
MLC would tack on two runs in the bottom of the third inning, but the Polars' pitching was too much for MLC to make a final rally and Crown held on decisively to beat the Knights 10-3.
Lisa Hoffer went 2-3 at the plate, while
Anna Busch drove in a run on base hit.
Madison Uhlenbrauck pitched a complete game for the Knights, giving up 10 runs on 14 hits, while fanning three Crown batters.
Up next MLC will head to St. Bonifacius to play North Central and Northwestern for the UMAC Crossover. The Knights will play the Rams at 10 a.m. and the Eagles at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 14.
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