Raiders Score Late In Doubleheader Sweep Of Warriors

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) - The Wisconsin Lutheran College softball team came up on the short end of both games of a doubleheader against the visiting MSOE Raiders Thursday afternoon at Neumann Family Field. The Raiders scored in the sixth and seventh innings of both games to win by scores of 3-1 and 5-2 over the Warriors.

THE BASICS

• Final Scores: MSOE 3, Wisconsin Lutheran 1; MSOE 5, Wisconsin Lutheran 2
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (8-12, 3-5 NACC), MSOE (15-7, 4-4 NACC)
• Location: Neumann Family Field, Milwaukee, Wis.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Neither team posed much of an offensive threat early on as the game was scoreless through two innings. The Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly from Emily Snow after two previous runners reached via singles in the inning.
• Taylor Bjork (Horicon, Wis.) evened the score at 1-1 for the Warriors after she drilled the first pitch she saw in the fourth inning over the left field fence off of newly-entered pitcher Sara McConnell.
• After a scoreless fifth inning, MSOE jumped ahead 2-1 after Kim White's RBI single. The Raiders had runners on the corners with nobody out, but Abby Mahsem (South Milwaukee, Wis.) limited the damage to just a run.
• WLC had two runners reach base in its half of the sixth, but couldn't plate the tying run.
• MSOE added an insurance run in the seventh on a Rachel Ziemba RBI single to center and Wisconsin Lutheran was unable to rally in game one.
• Bjork and Megan Belongia (Ashwaubenon, Wis.) recorded the only hits for the Warriors in game one. Mahsem allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out four.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Wisconsin Lutheran jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning after Rebecca Foster (Spring, Texas) scored on Belongia's sacrifice bunt and Karah Ritacco (Chicago, Ill.) followed with an RBI single to center that scored Gracie Wilson (Deerfield, Wis.).
• Both teams went down quietly in the fourth and fifth innings with the score still 2-0 in favor of WLC.
• After a one-out single in the sixth, MSOE's Kim White homered to right field to tie the game at 2-2.
• Ritacco and Mahsem led off the sixth for the Warriors with hits and found themselves in scoring position with nobody out, but the Raiders found a way to escape the jam.
• Following two consecutive putouts to begin the seventh, the Raiders rallied by having five straight batters reach base, including back-to-back RBI singles to pull ahead for a 5-2 lead.
• The Warriors had their first batter reach in the seventh, but the next three were retired in order as the game ended.
• Ritacco led the Warriors with two hits in the nightcap, while four others had one hit apiece.
• Mahsem suffered the loss in relief of starter Jessie Rago (Elgin, Ill.), who allowed just two hits in 4.1 innings of work.

FOR THE FOES

• Rachel Ziemba went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the opener for MSOE. Sara McConnell picked up the win in relief by tossing the last 4.0 innings. She allowed just one run on one hit and struck out seven.
• Kim White went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in game two. Liz Gale collected the win after striking out seven in 6.1 innings. McConell earned the save by recording the final two outs.

UP NEXT

• The Warriors will next travel to Alverno (12-14, 4-6 NACC) Sunday for a 12:00 p.m. NACC doubleheader. Live stats and video will be available at WLCSports.com.