ROCHESTER, Minn. - Grinnell College's softball team posted a few huge rallies, but both fell short as the Pioneers lost their season-opening contests Sunday morning at the ACM Tournament.
Emily Jordan '19, who hit .500 in the event, was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Pioneers tallied four runs in the seventh inning of the opening game, an 8-7 loss to St. Olaf College.
Mikyla Murphy '19 had three hits for Grinnell, including two doubles, while
Darice Wheeler '21 added two doubles and Jordan knocked in three runs.
St. Olaf got out to a 6-0 lead with two runs in the first through third innings. Grinnell scored twice in the fourth when Jordan hit into a fielder's choice. After the Oles scored twice in the bottom of the frame, Grinnell got a run back in the fifth on Wheeler's RBI double to left.
The Pioneers made things interesting in the seventh as
Flynn Johnson '21 hit a sacrifice fly to left, Jordan hit a two-run single and Murphy belted an RBI double to left to make it 8-7. But St. Olaf got out of the frame to secure the win.
Melissa Anderson '18 was the pitcher of record, striking out five in a complete-game effort.
The Pioneers followed with a 10-8 loss to Macalester College. Jordan, Johnson and
Andi Leff '18 each had two hits, and
Kayla Morrissey '18 knocked in two runs.
The Pioneers opened the scoring in the first inning on Jordan's run-scoring single to left.
Macalester tallied solo runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings and scored five times in the sixth for an 8-1 lead. Grinnell got four runs back in the bottom of the sixth with the aid of an RBI single by Anderson, run-scoring fielder's choice by Wehrenberg and two RBIs by Morrissey.
After Macalester scored twice in the seventh, the Pioneers came back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Leff knocked in a run with an infield single, Wheeler scored another run on a bases-loaded walk and
Leila Bishop-Parise '21 scored on an RBI groundout.
Maggie Remus '18, the first of three Grinnell pitchers, was the pitcher of record and struck out three in five innings.
In the game, Morrissey moved up to sixth on Grinnell's all-time assists list with 219 and Anderson jumped into the 10th spot in career walks with 30.
Grinnell is off until Saturday when it plays a doubleheader at Loras College in Dubuque. Action begins at 1 p.m.
ACM All-Tournament Team
Beloit - Ashley Lambert
Cornell - Cailyn Wichman
Grinnell - Emily Jordan
Knox - Tegan Doherty
Lake Forest - Missy Dieckman-Meyer
Luther - Anna Strien
Macalester - Sophie Miqacz
Ripon - Tene Robison
St. Olaf - Alison Curry
