CLERMONT, Fla. - Looking to maintain their momentum from yesterday, the University of Mary Softball team took on Post University and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia for day five of the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
 
The Marauders (5-9) had a close win over Post University (2-5) as they pulled out the win in the final at bat, but followed that up with an ugly loss to the University of the Sciences (1-5) as U-Mary split their games, halting their winning streak at three.
 
U-Mary faced Post University in the early afternoon game and for the most part the game turned into a fierce pitcher's duel as Nena Dudley struck out 11 batters in a complete game win for the Marauders.
 
It took a while to get to that point for Dudley, however, as the Marauders and the Eagles remained scoreless through the first five innings. U-Mary had an opportunity to get the lead in the fourth inning as Alana Norman continues her hot streak, sitting on a 12-game hitting streak prior to the contest against the Eagles, as she got a slap hit and beat out the throw from the shortstop to lead off the bottom of the fourth.
 
Norman stole second and advanced to third on a slap single from Nicole O'Haver, and after O'Haver stole second the Marauders had runners at second and third with nobody out. Dudley popped up to the third baseman in the next at bat and Julissa Perales flied out to center field and Norman was out trying to tag up from third, cutting the potential rally short.
 
Post University finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning after the lead off batter was called out for stepping on the plate, but after a walk and a stolen base from Aja DeGrauw, the Eagles had a runner on second with one out. The next batter lined out to Taylor Mendez at shortstop and the next batter, Emily Shaffer, got a two-out RBI single to right field, scoring DeGrauw from second.
 
That was all the Eagles could get, however, and the Marauders failed to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Heading into the seventh, the Eagles tried to add to their lead but couldn't after Dudley struck out two batter with a third out off a popup to the shortstop and the Marauders went into the bottom of the seventh looking to at least tie the game.
 
Amber Gamboa led off the inning with a single to center field and Francine Villalobos came in to pinch run for her. Kristin Ormsby came up to bat next and got a single of her own to right field, moving Villalobos up to second base.
 
With runners at first and second for U-Mary, Colleen Crutchfield was up next and she came up big with an RBI double to left center, scoring Villalobos from second and moving Alexandra McDermott, who pinch ran for Ormsby, to third base.
 
Now the score sat at 1-1 with Demaree Rodriguez up next for U-Mary and she ended the game with a blast to deep right center, scoring both McDermott and Crutchfield, and stopped at third, giving the Marauders a 3-1 victory over Post University with a two RBI triple to right center.
 
Norman provided a hot bat as she finished 2-of-3 with two singles and a stolen base.
 
O'Haver also got two hits and a stolen base as well as she has improved her batting average significantly in the past few games, up from .214 to .349.
 
Gamboa was the third Marauder to get two hits in the game as the designated player, while Crutchfield and Rodriguez provided the lone extra base hits.
 
U-Mary wasn't done on the day as they took on the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia for the second game of the day, and if the first game came up heads then this game certainly came up tails for the Marauders.
 
The Devils got on the board first in the top half of the first inning as Maria Serrantino drew a walk and Ashley Lewis stole third but reached home on an error from Ormsby. University of the Sciences added two more in the second with an RBI single and an RBI groundball; and finally pushed the score to 8-0 in the bottom of the third as they scored three runs on errors by the Marauders and one off a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
U-Mary finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Demaree Rodriguez laced a double to left center, scoring Crutchfield from second, and Norman drove in Rodriguez off a RBI single up the middle, putting cutting the lead down to 8-2.
 
The Marauders got one more in the bottom of the fifth as Gamboa scored Perales off a sacrifice fly to center field, but that was all U-Mary could get as they went into the sixth inning down 8-3.
 
The Devils padded their lead in the top of the seventh, first getting two off an RBI single up the middle, getting another off an error, and getting one more off a base hit to left field, extending their lead to 12-3. Unfortunately the Marauders chance for a comeback was cut short and they dropped the second contest of the day.
 
Norman continued her torrid pace as she batted a perfect 4-of-4 for the game with one RBI and two stolen bases.
 
O'Haver added three more hits to her total along with another stolen base in the game.
 
Perales had two hits of her own, one of which was a double, and scored one of the Marauder's runs.
 
U-Mary will take on the College of Saint Rose and Ashland University tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m., CDT.
 
#marauders#