MARQUETTE, Mich. - Marian University softball (1-1, 0-0 NACC) defeated UW-Superior 15-0 in five innings before falling to UW-Stevens Point 8-1 to close out the opening day of the season.

In the opener the Sabres slugged out 16 hits plating 15 runs, while sophomore Paige Rauhut (1-0) threw a two-hit shutout as Marian opened their season with a win.  The Sabres and YellowJackets were scoreless after three innings before the MU offense went off for eight runs in the fourth and seven runs in the fifth.  Rauhut struck out six of the 20 batters she faced.

The top of the lineup produced in a big way with the top three Marian hitters combining for seven hits in 11 at bats.  Freshman Katy Croeker had a good start to her Sabre career going 3-4 with three runs batted in as the cleanup hitter.  Junior Rachel Soch also had three hits, while sophomore Gianna Esposito went 2-3 with a run scored and three driven in.  Sophomores Taylor Lauscher and Courtney Makinen along with freshman Alexa Rodriguez each had multi-hit games with Makinen also driving in a pair of runs. 

The Sabre offense was held in check in their second game against the Pointers only managing a pair of hits, while a trio of Sabres made their first career appearance in the circle.  Soch led off the fourth inning for Marian with a single but an error in center field allowed her to reach third base.  Soch would score shortly after on a wild pitch.

Freshman Peyton Loesch (0-1) started the game for Marian going 4.1 only allowing two runs, one earned, with three punch outs.  Fellow freshman Myranda Schuttenhelm relieved her tossing 1.2 innings with freshman Jade Mardjetko closing out the final inning.

Marian takes on UW-Oshkosh at 11 a.m. (CST) and St. Scholastica at 1 p.m. (CST) to close out the Finlandia Dome Classic tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 25.

--FightBlueFight--