Box Score - vs. Finlandia
Box Score - vs. Simpson
MARQUETTE, Mich. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University softball team opened the 2012 campaign at the Finlandia Dome Tournament held at the Superior Dome, home of Northern Michigan University. The Sabres dropped a pair of 6-3 decisions to host Finlandia University and Simpson College.
Marian combined for 18 hits in the two games, but managed just three runs in each contest. Five Sabres recorded three hits apiece in the two games combined. Freshman
Courtney Krueger tallied all three hits in the opening loss to Finlandia, while
Liz Schaller claimed a team-leading two hits in the night-cap.
The Sabres fall to 0-2 on the year while Finlandia improved to 3-1 and Simpson moved to 2-2.
In game one, the Sabres fell behind early as the Lions scored three runs in the first off senior
Cherise Waltz. FU would go on to add one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a commanding 6-0 advantage. What became too little, too late, Marian finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh and final inning with three tallies.
Schaller started the inning by reaching on an error by the third baseman and advancing to second on the throwing miscue. She scored on
Emily Boehnlein's double. After a Jansen fly out,
Molly Sippel drove in the second run before later scoring on Krueger's single. The Sabres left two runners on when the final out was made to end the game.
In game two, the Sabres didn't wait until the last inning to get on the board, rather, they scored twice in the opening frame on Jansen's two-run homerun. Marian would then add another run in the second on Niki Ponticelli's solo shot.
However, Simpson wasn't going away quietly. The Storm responded right away with first inning run on a sacrifice fly. They would pull to within a run in the second on Winegard's RBI single.
In the third, the Sabres went scoreless, while the Storm put up a four-spot as Coopman capped the big inning with a three-run homerun to take a 6-3 lead, which held to the end as Toyne fired all seven innings to get the complete game win.
Waltz (0-2) struck out three batters in earning the loss and six batters on the day overall.
Marian will be back in action tomorrow as it takes on Mount Mary and UW-Stevens Point at 2 p.m. Game one is slated for 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT, while game two will follow at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.
