Hits made all the difference on Saturday as the visiting Loras College Duhawks swept the Scots in their home opener, taking game one 8-2 and the second 6-2. In the afternoon, the Duhawks outhit the Scots 26-16. With these wins, Duhawks’s record rose to 13-3 overall while the Scots dipped to 3-11.
The visitors were the first to find the scoreboard in game one when catcher Dana Skorich smacked an RBI double to right-center field. A two-run home run by Kiya Steger and an RBI-single by Ellie Baker extended the Loras lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, a hit from Monmouth third baseman Mackenzie Gerard flew out to center field, allowing catcher Gracie Guenther to tag up from third base and score on a sacrifice.
The Scots and Duhawks each plated a run in the next two innings to make the difference 5-2 at the end of five, but it was all Loras from there. The Duhawks plated two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to close the door on Monmouth.
Roy Ralston throwing heat. Photo from Fighting Scots website.
The winning pitcher for the opener was Loras’s Kaili Henning, who pitched the latter four innings in relief for starter Abigail Cortez. Cortez pitched three innings of work, allowing four hits, one earned run, and hitting one batter. Henning, in her four innings, allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out six. The pitcher for the record for the hosts was Alyssa Hefflefinger, who fanned two batters in six full innings of work.
Throughout the game, the Scots struggled to string hits together, stranding 12 runners throughout the contest.
The Duhawks emerged victorious again in the closer by a score of 6-2. The hosts’ only runs came off an RBI-single by second baseman Karliegh Ashby in the fourth inning that scored Savannah Powers, and a sacrifice fly by Ashby in the sixth that brought home Liz Waymire. Loras’s winning pitcher was Rachel Peat, who fanned four Scots in six innings pitched. For the Scots, Lydia Overcash was the pitcher of the record, sitting down two batters in six innings pitched.
After going on a six-game road trip, the Fighting Scots softball team will return home on Good Friday, April 3, to play a twin bill with Lake Forest College, with games at 1 and 3 p.m.