Minneapolis, MN - The Martin Luther College softball team continued its non-conference tournament action with a doubleheader against UW-River Falls from the WIAC on Friday afternoon. The Knights played hard in both games, but ultimately the Falcons came away on top, defeating MLC 8-0 in Game one and 13-4 in Game two.

UW-River Falls 8, MLC 0

The Falcons outhit the Knights 10-2 in the first contest of the day, but wouldn't truly pull away from MLC until the bottom of the sixth inning, when they scored five runs to complete the 8-0 shutout. 

Up until that point, UW-River Falls was winning 3-0 through three frames. Kayla Dolan got the Falcons on the board by driving a single into centerfield, scoring Tessa Peterson, who got on base with a double. Jessica Horn was able to get out of the inning in the next at bat without any further damage in the inning.

The Knights had a scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth, but they would leave Lisa Hoffer stranded on third base after the fifth-year senior led off the inning with a double.

The Falcons had three players with multiple RBI and Maggie Wallin threw the complete game shutout, allowing just two base hits with nine strikeouts.

Horn tossed 5.2 innings for MLC and allowed eight runs on 12 hits.

UW-River Falls 13, MLC 4

The MLC offense was ready for the second game of the day and posted 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hoffer put the ball far enough for the sacrifice fly and then Chloe Berg singled down the left field line and brought in Emmalee Mindock.

The score remained 2-0 heading into the top of the third, but the Falcons got a 1-out triple from Hannah Richards that went to the warning track. Richards would then score off of a single from Jewel Waupekenay to cut their deficit to 2-1.

The Knights answered back in the bottom half of the third when Hoffer smoked the ball off the wall in right field. The hit gave MLC a 4-1 advantage through three innings on the diamond.

UW-River Falls then tacked on a run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth frame to capture their first lead of the game. MLC had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth, but the Falcons' relief pitchers settled in and got out of the inning unscathed to retain their 6-4 lead.

From there, the Falcons rattled seven more runs combined in the sixth and seventh inning that would make an MLC comeback out of reach.

Despite the loss, the Knights recorded their highest run total of the season (4) and also played well defensively and had no errors in seven innings played. Jordyn Heckendorf and Hannah Ott had two hits apiece, while Hoffer finished with three RBI.

MLC (0-6) will be back at it on Edor Nelson Field on the campus of Augsburg, where they will play the Auggies for another doubleheader on Saturday, March 2. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.