Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Las Vegas, Nev.—The University of Mary softball team (1-1) made their season debut today as they participated in the Montana State University Billings Desert Stinger tournament. U-Mary opened with an 11-9 loss to Northwest Nazarene University (4-2) and bounced back in the second game to defeat Simon Fraser University (0-2) 9-7.
 
Game 1
 
U-Mary's season debut started rocky as it surrendered a three first inning runs before eventually falling 11-9 to Northwest Nazarene.
 
Allison Brown was the offensive star for the Marauders going 3-of-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Brown also added a stolen base.
 
Brianna Kinghorn went 4-of-5 with a homerun for the Crusaders.
 
U-Mary dug itself a hole early surrendering two homeruns, a two-run and a solo, to go down 3-0 in the top of the first.
 
After going hitless in the first, the Marauders rallied in the second sparked by a trio of freshmen. A one-out double by freshman Amber Gamboa gave U-Mary its first hit of the 2014 season. Freshman Francine Villalobos followed with a double of her own advancing Gamboa to third.
 
Erin Keen, who got the nod for the Marauders, walked to load the bases with two-outs bringing Brown to the plate. Brown ripped the ball to left field for a double to clear the bases. Alana Norman followed with an RBI bunt single to score Brown, who advanced to third on a throwing error.
 
Kristin Ormsby walked and redshirt freshman Taylor Mendez drove the ball to right center for a two-run triple as the Marauders put up six runs on five hits to take a 6-3 lead after two innings.
 
Unfortunately the Crusaders had an answer as they took advantage of a leadoff walk with a two-run homerun in the top of the third. U-Mary surrendered a single in the following at bat, but Keen retired the next two batters. A walk and three hits later and the Crusaders took an 8-6 lead with a five-run third.
 
The Marauders gave up a two-run homer in the fourth as the Crusaders took a 10-6 lead. Cherlyn Trujillo came into relieve Keen, who finished with six strikeouts. Trujillo finished the final 3.2 innings by striking out four and allowing one run.
 
U-Mary added a run in the bottom half of the fourth and one more in the fifth. Up 10-8, NNU added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. The Marauders scored one run in the seventh, but stranded two runners in scoring position as they went on to fall 11-9. 
 
Norman was 3-of-5 for the game, scored a run and knocked in another. Norman added a career-high three stolen bases. Mendez was 1-of-4, but finished with three RBI.
 
Game 2
 
Looking to bounce back in the second game, U-Mary did just that with a 9-7 win over Simon Fraser to finish its opening day with a split.
 
Ormsby was the offensive catalyst in game two going 3-of-4 with 2 RBI. Ormsby had a double and scored a run in the game. Trujillo picked up her first win of the season allowing three earned runs in a complete game effort.
 
Danielle Raison led the Clan going 2-of-4, on a double and a homerun, with two RBI
 
Mendez got U-Mary on the board early with an RBI single in the first to score Brown who walked, but SFU responded in the bottom of the inning as Raison doubled to center to score a run.
 
After going down in order in the second, the Marauders rallied in the third to score four runs on four hits. Keen led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brown followed with an RBI single. Brown went on to score on a throwing error. Ormsby doubled to score Norman, who walked, and Gamboa singled to score Ormsby to give U-Mary a 5-1 lead.
 
Both teams scored in the fourth inning making it 6-2.
 
With runners at second and third and one out, Julissa Perales hit a sacrifice fly to score Gamboa, who walked. Keen followed with an RBI single to score Villalobos, who reached on an infield single, to give U-Mary an 8-2 lead.
 
The Marauders added a run in the seventh to seemingly put the game out of reach at 9-2. However, six hits and two errors later and the Clan closed the gap to 9-7 with runners at the corners with two outs. Trujillo ended the scare with a ground ball out as U-Mary held on for their first win of the season, 9-7.
 
Brown was 2-of-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Keen was 2-of-3 and also had a walk, two runs scored and an RBI.
 
After having just 27 stolen bases all of last year, the Marauders finished the day with nine stolen bases, four of which came from Norman.
 
U-Mary will be back in action at 1:30 p.m. (CT) tomorrow as it takes on Notre Dame de Namur University. Following that game, the Marauders will take on the defending national champions No. 1 University of Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m. (CT).
 
Live stats for both games will be provided by tournament host Montana State Billings and can be found at goumary.com/coverage.
 
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