Softball Shuts Down Stars For Senior Day Sweep

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) - The Wisconsin Lutheran College softball team moved over .500 in conference play for the first time this season after shutting out Dominican over two games of a doubleheader sweep, 1-0 and 7-0, Friday afternoon at Neumann Family Field. It was the Warriors' first sweep over the Stars since the 2008 season. Senior Taylor Bjork (Horicon, Wis.) was honored between games in her final home game for the Green and White.

THE BASICS

• Final Scores: Wisconsin Lutheran 1, Dominican 0; Wisconsin Lutheran 7, Dominican 0
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (15-17, 10-8 NACC), Dominican (16-20, 10-10 NACC)
• Location: Neumann Family Field, Milwaukee, Wis.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Stars put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs in the third, but Abby Mahsem (South Milwaukee, Wis.) fanned the final batter to escape any damage.
• The Warriors also had a runner reach third with two outs in their half of the inning, but couldn't break the scoreless tie.
• Ellen Davis (Greendale, Wis.) drove a one-out double over the left fielder's head in the fourth inning to plate Mahsem, who leadoff the inning with a single, for a 1-0 WLC lead.
• Dominican threatened in the sixth with Wisconsin Lutheran clinging to a 1-0 lead. The Stars loaded the bases with just one out, but Mahsem recorded back-to-back punch outs to escape the jam.
• DU leadoff the final frame with a single, but the runner never reached scoring position.
• Four different Warriors recorded hits in the game, and Mahsem won her 11th game of the season after striking out 10 in 7.0 innings.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Warriors jumped on the Stars for four runs on just two hits in the first inning of game two, scoring two runs on errors and two more on a two-out, two-RBI single from Mary Lynn Clausen (Montgomery, Ill.) for a 4-0 lead.
• WLC added another three runs its next half inning, as Karah Ritacco (Chicago, Ill.) and Maddie Lindemann (Watertown, Wis.) collected consecutive run-scoring singles with two outs for a commanding 7-0 lead.
• Wisconsin Lutheran had two hits the rest of the way, but didn't need any further offensive support as Jessie Rago (Elgin, Ill.) and Mahsem combined for the shutout.
• Dominican loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Mahsem fought through steady rainfall to record the three outs without a run being scored.
• The seven Warriors hits in the game came from seven different players. Maddie Lindemann and Clausen each drove in two runs for WLC.
• Rago pitched 4.0 shutout innings to earn her fourth win of the season, as she allowed just three hits and fanned one.

FOR THE FOES

• Julia Orozco went 2-for-3 for the Stars in game one. Sydney Kuderna allowed just the one run on four hits to take the loss.
• Five different players recorded hits for the Stars in the nightcap. Michele Behrens allowed seven runs, three earned, in only 1.2 innings to suffer the loss.

UP NEXT

• The Warriors travel to Concordia Chicago (22-11, 13-5 NACC) tomorrow for another key NACC doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available for both games at WLCSports.com.