DECORAH, Iowa - The third time was the charm for the University of Dubuque softball team to play against the Luther College Norse after two postponements due to weather conditions. The Spartans would get shutout in the opening game and would lead halfway through game two before the Norse made a comeback to sweep the two game doubleheader.
Game 1
Game one was all Norse as they held the Spartans to one hit the entire shortened six inning game. The one hit came in the first inning off a
Bella Allison single. The Norse got one run in the first and would later add on to their lead in the third inning scoring three to increase their lead to 4-0. Heading into the sixth inning, the Spartans trailed by five runs and the game would come to a close in the inning as the Norse hit a three-run shot to end the game at 9-0.
The Spartans struggled to swing the bats in game one as they struck out a combined 13 times.
Ally Gullette (5-8) was on the mound for the first five innings recording the loss giving up four earned runs.
Paige Manning came in for 2/3 innings giving up four earned runs.
Game 2
The bats finally came alive in game two as the Spartans were able to racked up 12 hits. The Spartans got the lead early in the first inning and would add to their lead in the second off a bases clearing double from
Kaitlyn Powell to lead 4-1.
Megan Leick would then reach on an error to score Powell to add another run to their lead. In the third,
Grace Lagerhausen singled to third base to score another run. The Spartans would have their biggest lead of the game at 6-1. The Norse would cut the lead to 6-3 before
Dariann Diorio hit a homerun to get the Spartans lead back to 7-3. The Spartans would not score again in the game as the Norse racked off three runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 7-6. The Norse then took the lead in the fifth 8-7 and hit a two-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead 10-7. The Spartans didn't get anything going in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Five Spartans led with two hits apiece with Powell finishing with three RBI's and Leick had two runs batted in.
Jaelyn Blakemore started the game going 2.2 innings giving up three earned runs on 10 hits. Gullette (5-9) came in for relief and gave up six runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings pitched.
Ciaran Rigby pitched the final inning for the Spartans.
The Spartans move to 11-23 overall and 4-8 in conference play. The Spartans have four conference games to go and will need to at least split over the final four games to make the conference tournament as the #6 seed. The Spartans can still jump to the #5 seed based on how conference games go this week.
Up Next
The Spartans will have a doubleheader against rival Loras College in a pivotal two games for both the Spartans and Duhawks. First game is set for Wednesday, May 3 at 2:00 p.m.
