SOFTBALL

The HU softball team held on to a 2-0 lead through the majority of the opener against #11 Marian before the hosts stormed back with four unanswered runs to enjoy a 4-2 win in Tuesday afternoon’s league opener. The nightcap was much less eventful as the Knights struck early and often for a 9-1 decision that ended after five innings.

Sophomore Kinzie Mollenkopf held one of the nation’s powerhouses in check through the first four frames where she scattered just three hits without giving up a run. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, things began to unravel.

MU pieced together three straight hits for two runs forcing a 2-2 tie. It was the start of the Knights’ comeback trek as the sixth saw them plate the go ahead run on an RBI-ground out followed by a solo shot as the exclamation point on their come-from-behind victory.

Karlee Franklin tossed the final 1.1 innings to be tagged with the loss. The senior righty gave up the homerun, two runs and a walk while striking out two.

Jess Duvall played a role in both of Huntington’s run. She reached base on an error in the first which gave Josslynn Harbert, who led off the contest with a triple, plenty of time to cruise home. Four frames later, Duvall knocked in Carli Tharp with a two-bagger to right center. The Foresters left two baserunners stranded in the fifth while four others were left on base over the course of the other six frames.

Unfortunately, HU could never really get things going in the nightcap. Jo Walker claimed one of Huntington’s two hits for the game, a double in the fifth, and after stealing third came around to score on Mollenkopf’s RBI-ground out. Tharp accounted for her team’s other base poke which was an infield single in the third.

Starting pitcher Natalie Haselby was charged with the loss. She spent 1.1 innings in the circle and gave up seven hits and seven runs.

The Foresters (11-5, 0-2) hit the road again Friday to take on Mount Vernon at 3:00 p.m.