LEESBURG, FL – Nichole Eckhardt spun her first shutout of the season and
Brooke De Jonge paced a potent offensive attack to earn the University of Mary softball team a split on day three of their spring sojourn to the Sunshine State. After opening with a 7-1 loss to Wayne State University, the Marauders rebounded for an 8-0 victory over Salem University.
GAME 1 | Wayne State University (MI) 7 University of Mary 1
The Marauders opened the scoring with a lone run in the first inning but struggled to gain any further traction against Warriors starting pitcher Sasha Buckberger. A single by
Janelle Bergmann and a run-scoring double by
Francesca Villaneda in the home half of the first inning accounted for two of UMary's three hits in six innings against Buckberger.
Hannah Chambers gave up three runs – one earned – in three innings for UMary.
PIVOT POINT
Wayne State tied the game with a single run in the second before adding two more in the third, the second run of the inning scoring due to a UMary error. Remaining within striking distance through four innings, Wayne State added three more runs in the fifth to take control.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
STAT OF THE GAME
The Marauders were limited to one hit the last six innings pf the game.
GAME 2 | University of Mary 8 Salem (WV) University 0
Nicole Eckhardt limited the Tigers to just three hits and a walk in five innings to earn her second career shutout. Only once did Salem have multiple runners on base in an inning and only two Tigers moved into scoring position. No one moved beyond second base for Salem.
Getting stronger as the game progressed, Eckhardt struck out the side in the fifth inning to close out a game shortened by the run rule.
Brooke De Jonge equaled her career-best with three hits in the game, one of five Marauders (4-13 overall) with multiple hits in the game. The junior outfielder also drove in three runs and scored twice. Overall UMary had 13 hits in the game.
PIVOT POINT
After a scoreless first inning, the Marauders struck for three in the second. With two runners in scoring position, De Jonge singled to score
Janine Warne and
Kaylee Kannegiesser for a quick 2-0 lead. A McKenzie Reinhardt single scored De Jonge for the third run of the inning. With Eckhardt dealing in the circle, three runs was more than enough for the Marauders win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- McKenzie Reinhardt | 2x3, R, RBI, BB
- Janelle Bergmann | 2x3, R
- Sariah Perez | 2x4, R, RBI
- Francesca Villaneda | 1x3, 2 RBIs
- Madison Wszolek | 2x2, R
- Brooke DeJonge | 3x3, 2 R, 3 RBIs
- Nicole Eckhardt | 5.0 IP complete game shutout, 0 R, 3 H
STAT OF THE GAME
Including a scoreless inning pitched in the opener,
Nicole Eckhardt threw 6.0 scoreless innings for the day. She allowed four total hits.
NEXT UP
The Marauders wrap up the week in FLA with a pair of contests on Friday, March 16, After opening the day against Alliance at 11:30 am CST followed by University of New Haven at 2 PM CST.
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