KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Marian University softball (7-3, 0-0 NACC) fell to St. Norbert by a 7-3 final before bouncing back to defeat St. Joseph's (L.I.) 10-0 in five innings.

A slow start from the Sabres proved to be costly falling to St. Norbert to open the day.  The Green Knights plated three runs in the second, three in the third, and added one run in the fourth to take a 7-0 edge on the Sabres.  The Marian bats were able to come alive in the fifth inning as the Sabres were able to cut into their deficit.  After a walk from freshman Hannah Cozzi and single from junior Ally Fox, senior Lindsey Strainis would drive in Cozzi with a single to put Marian on the board.  Junior Gianna Esposito then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Fox before a double from sophomore Peyton Loesch capped off the three-run inning.

The crooked number forced the Green Knights to use their bullpen but Marian was unable to figure out the SNC reliever who was able to thwart the Marian comeback.

Fox closed out the game 3-for-4, while Loesch also had a multi-hit game going 2-for-3.  In the circle, Loesch was able to toss 3.1 innings of relief allowing just one earned run, while sophomore Myranda Schuttenhelm also tossed 1.0 inning of relief work allowing just one walk.

The Marian offense bounced back in their second game of the day to defeat St. Joseph's (L.I.) via the mercy rule.  The Sabres opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single by Fox, which was immediately followed by a two-RBI double from Strainis. Marian then sent 13 hitters to the plate in the fourth inning plating seven runs to break the game open.  Loesch recorded a two-RBI single to open the scoring for the inning before sophomore Alexa Rodriguez and Cozzi each recorded RBI singles.  Sophomore Jade Mardjetko was able to walk with the bases loaded to bring in another run before freshman Rachel Mereness drove in a pair of runs with a single to close out the scoring for the inning and game.

From there, Schuttenhelm (4-1) shut down the Golden Eagles as she went on to throw another complete game only allowing two hits with a pair of strikeouts.  Fox led the offense with three hits once again, while Strainis and Cozzi each had multi-hit games.  Eight different Sabres would score in the victory with Cozzi being the lone Sabre to score multiple times.  Marian was also able to show their patience at the plate on the day with eight walks, two of which came from senior Rachel Soch at the bottom of the lineup to help set the table for the top of the lineup.

Marian plays their final games at the Osceola Softball Complex tomorrow, Wednesday, March 20, taking on Rowan at 10:45 a.m. (CDT) and Ramapo at 1:15 p.m. (CDT).