GRINNELL, Iowa – The opponent may have come in with an impressive 15 wins on the season, but that didn't faze the Grinnell College softball team in the slightest.
The Pioneers dominated through five innings of Thursday's opener at the Softball Complex, only to see Loras College rally for a 9-7 victory. Loras completed the sweep in the second game with an 8-2 win.
Grinnell pounded out a season-high 15 hits in the first game against a team sporting a 2.68 ERA.
Mikyla Murphy '19,
Maggie Remus '18 and
Ashley Wehrenberg '19 all had three hits, with Remus and Wehrenberg matching career-highs.
Murphy had two doubles among her totals, Wehrenberg a triple and
Emily Jordan '19 a double.
Grinnell got out to a 2-0 lead in the opening inning as
Kayla Morrissey '18 walked and scored on Murphy's double to right-center. Remus then singled to right to score another run.
The Pioneers made it 3-0 in the third when
Sage Juveland '17 walked, took second on a groundout and scored on Remus' single to right field.
Loras scored in the fifth inning, but the Pioneers countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Morrissey led off with a single up the middle and scored when Murphy doubled to center.
Remus singled up the middle to put runners on the corners before Wehrenberg knocked in a run with an infield single.
Sidney Litke '19 later hit an RBI single up the middle to make it 6-1.
The Duhawks then turned things around with a seven-run output in the sixth. Grinnell got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Wehrenberg tripled to right field to plate Remus, who reached on a fielder's choice. Loras added an insurance run in the seventh inning.
Remus, the second of two pitchers, suffered the loss.
Andi Leff '18 had two hits, including a double, to pace Grinnell in the second game.
Loras got out to a 7-0 lead through four innings before the Pioneers scored in the fifth when Wehrenberg singled and scored on Leff's double to left.
Loras added a run in the seventh and Grinnell tallied one in the bottom of the inning when Leff singled up the middle, took third on Jordan's single to right and scored on
Lydia Stariha's '17 single up the middle.
Remus was the pitcher of record for the Pioneers, who dropped to 4-10. Loras improved to 17-5.
During the contests, Stariha moved up to sixth on Grinnell's career chart for hits with 116 and is now seventh in at-bats with 348. Juveland jumped to seventh in career walks with 31.
The Pioneers have a pair of big Midwest Conference doubleheaders this weekend at Lawrence University and Lake Forest College.
