MELBOURNE, Fla. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College closed out its spring break trip at the Space Coast Spring Games with a split on Friday, defeating Rivier, 3-0, before falling to St. Catherine, 6-1, at the USSSA Space Coast Complex.
Wisconsin Lutheran 3, Rivier 0
After four scoreless innings, the Warriors broke through in the top of the fifth. Sophomore pinch hitter
Kylie Gaston (Albertville, Minn.) led off the inning with a solo homerun to right field to give WLC a 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin Lutheran added another run in the sixth. Junior
Julianna Alloy (Harrison Township, Mich.) drew a one-out walk, junior
Sommer Krull (New London, Wis.) and freshman
Anna Bracke (Brookfield, Wis.) followed with singles to load the bases, and sophomore
Maritza Martinez (Kenosha, Wis.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 2-0.
The Warriors pushed their advantage to 3-0 in the seventh. Freshman
Rebecca Reddeman (Canton, Mich.) was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored when sophomore
Molly Kelly (Hortonville, Wis.) doubled to left-center field.
WLC's pitching staff handled the rest. Sophomore
Brianna Wascher (South Elgin, Ill.) earned the win after allowing just one hit over three innings with one strikeout. Sophomore
Teagan Piven (Plainfield, Ill.) pitched four hitless innings with two strikeouts and two walks to record her fourth save of the season.
Krull and Bracke each collected two hits to lead Wisconsin Lutheran's six-hit effort, while Gaston drove in one run with her homer.
Rivier (0-7) managed only one hit in the game, a third-inning single by Liv Harnish.
St. Catherine 6, Wisconsin Lutheran 1
The Wildcats broke through in the second inning with a double and an error for a 1-0 lead. SCU extended its advantage in the third on a caught-stealing play and an RBI single to make it 3-0.
St. Catherine added another run in the fourth on a pair of singles, and pushed the lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning with an RBI double and single as part of a four-hit frame.
The Warriors got on the board in the sixth when Gaston launched a solo homerun to right-center field, her second of the day. WLC put two runners on later in the inning but could not add to the rally.
Six different players posted one hit each for Wisconsin Lutheran, while Gaston had the lone RBI.
Helen McKinnon and Sam Aronson each had three hits to lead the Wildcats (9-5), while Kylee Kohout had three RBI. Morgan Wilson earned the win after allowing one run on six hits over five innings. Taylor Graf tossed two scoreless innings in relief.
The Warriors (6-6) open Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play on Saturday, March 21 with a 12 p.m. doubleheader at Benedictine (8-2). Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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