Box Scores - Game 1, Game 2

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University softball team was handed a pair of hard-luck two-run defeats at the hand of visiting Lakeland College in a Northern Athletics Conference doubleheader at Smith Fields this evening, April 11.

Both games resulted in a pair of solid pitching duels. Lakeland used back-to-back scoring frames in game one, when they scored three times in the second and twice in the third to take a 5-1 lead. The Sabres brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but pitcher Erin Henk retired the last two batters to end the game.

In game two, Lakeland scored a third inning run and added an insurance tally in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch. Again, the Sabres brought the potential tying run to the plate, but a strikeout ended the threat as Lakeland improved to 12-8 overall, 7-1 in the NAC. The Sabres fell to 11-13 (6-4 NAC).

In Lakeland's big scoring inning in game one, Henk started the rally with a one out single to first base to put two runners on. Two batters later, McKenna Wenzel grounded out to shortstop, but the first run came into score. The next batter, Kate Wallen, then doubled to right center to bring both runners in and give the Muskies a commanding 3-0 lead.

The Sabres got a run back in the bottom of the second when Molly Sippel scored on a throwing error by the Lakeland center fielder following an Emily Boehnlein single.

Leading 3-1, Chelsea Gile provided more offense with a homerun to right-center field that just got over the fence. The 5-1 lead proved to hold despite a seventh inning rally by the Sabres.

In the bottom of the seventh, Sippel led off the inning with a double to right and came around to score two batters later when Boehnlein doubled to right center. A fielding error on a missed fly ball to center by Ariel O'Neill brought home Boehnlein to make the score 5-3 with one out.

Henk struck out Courtney Krueger swinging and then got Katlin Jarvis to ground out to second to end the game. Sippel finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, while Boehnlein went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. On the other side, Henk led the Muskies with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate.

In game two, both pitchers carried over their stellar performances from game one. Henk received help from her offense, but as a result of a Marian defensive miscue. With two outs in the third inning, an error by the Sabre third baseman allowed the inning to continue and the runner at third to scamper home for the 1-0 Lakeland lead.

Marian's Cherise Waltz scattered just five hits over the last four innings, but suffered the loss after Henk's impressive shutout performance. In the seventh, Krueger singled to right with two outs, but Jarvis ended the game with a called third strike.

The Sabres will look to rebound this weekend when they travel to Wisconsin Lutheran for a conference doubleheader in Milwaukee this Saturday, April 14. They then return home Sunday, April 15, for a doubleheader against MSOE beginning at noon.