FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Marian University softball (24-14, 11-9 NACC) closed out the home portion of their schedule with a pivotal 10-3, 9-2 NACC sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran.

The Sabre offense was able to come to life in the opener of the series banging out 14 hits and putting up three crooked numbers to take game one.  Marian jumped on the Warriors early scoring three runs in the bottom of the first with a double to left from freshman Gianna Esposito scoring senior Nicole LaBeck and a double to right center from fellow freshman Courtney Makinen plating senior Sara Terrian and Esposito.

The lead would hold until the top of the third when WLC was able to put a two-out rally together scoring three runs to tie the game at 3-3.  The Sabres then put together a two-out rally themselves in the bottom of the fourth with sophomore Lindsey Strainis bringing in senior Charlotte Pegram with a single, which was immediately followed by a LaBeck single to score Strainis and freshman Ally Fox and put Marian ahead 6-3.

Marian then extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth with sophomore Rachel Soch scoring on an error before a bases clearing triple from Terrian plated three Sabres to give Marian a 10-3 lead that they would hold onto after a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.

Senior Shannon Huray (12-9) earned the complete game win in her final game at Smith Field.  Esposito had the big bat for Marian in the win going 4-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in.

The Marian offense once again had a strong performance to secure the sweep with timely hitting.  The Sabres opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly from Terrian followed by an RBI single from Pegram in the third for the early 2-0 advantage.  Once again the Warriors answered shortly after with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth but the Sabres answered in the bottom half in a big way.

After a pair of walks opened the bottom of the fifth, Makinen would hit a pinch-hit single to right to plate a pair of Sabres.  After a walk from Soch, Fox then drove a ball to dead center field for a double that plated another pair of Sabres.  The five-run inning was capped off by an RBI groundout from Strainis that scored Soch and put MU ahead 7-2.

Terrian once again provided the Sabres insurance in the bottom of the sixth with her first home run of the year, and only home run at Smith Field for the 2017 season, a two-run shot over the left field wall to cap off the score at 9-2. 

Freshman Paige Rauhut improved to 10-5 on the year with the complete game win fanning four over her 7.0 innings.  The offense was scattered for Marian with Pegram being the lone Sabre with a multi-hit game going 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.  Terrian closed out her career at Smith Field going 1-1 with three runs batted in, two runs scored and two walks.

Senior Tiffani Castillo and LaBeck also played their final game at Smith Field along with Terrian, Pegram and Huray.

Marian closes out the regular season with a road doubleheader at Edgewood Sunday, April 30 starting at noon.

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