COCO BEACH, FL – The University of Mary softball team (10-12) defeated the University of Michigan-Dearborn 6-2 and West Virginia Wesleyan College 5-1 on their final day of Spring Games.
UMary has now surpassed last season's win total of nine. The Marauders will open conference action in a road doubleheader against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, March 21, at noon in St. Paul, MN.
GAME 1 University of Mary 10 UMD 6
The Wolverines took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. The Marauders responded with two runs in the bottom of the third. Kaitlyn McLaughlin came around to score on a throwing error by UMD. Jianna Cota drove in Jenel Mallari when she hit a sac fly to right field.
UMD scored one run in the fourth inning to tie the game up at 2-2. Cota would get the big hit of the game in the fourth inning when she smashed a bases-clearing double that gave UMary a 5-2 lead. Cota would grab her fifth RBI of the game when she singled to second base, scoring McLaughlin.
Jayleen Rojas grabbed her fourth win of the season, pitching 3.2 innings of relief and allowing zero runs. Ivee Johnsen got the start and pitched 3.1 innings and allowed two runs while striking out four batters.
The Marauders recorded ten hits and three walks, while the Wolverines had five hits and four walks.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jenel Mallari went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
Jianna Cota went 2-for-3 with five RBIs and one double.
Kaitlyn McLaughlin went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, two steals, one double, and one walk.
Genevieve Hastings went 1-for-3 with one walk and one steal.
Francesca Villaneda went 1-for-3
Janelle Bergmann went 1-for-3
GAME 2 University of Mary 5 WVWC 1
The Marauders took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Genevieve Hastings hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Kaitlyn McLaughlin. The Bobcats would tie the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
UMary exploded for four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Jenel Mallari tripled home McLaughlin to take the lead. Jianna Cota then smashed a single to score Mallari. Cota would come around to score on a wild pitch. The scoring concluded when Cassidy Bagnell reached home after Bree Waldron was thrown out at second.
Arria Johnson shut down the Bobcats offense in the sixth and seventh innings to pick up her sixth win of the season. Johnson would throw 3.2 innings of relief, giving up only one hit and zero runs. The Graham, WA, native's six wins are the most any Marauder has had since 2019.
Elyssa Verploegen got the start and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing one run and striking out two batters. UMary finished the game with four hits and three walks, while the Bobcats had four hits and no walks.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kaitlyn McLaughlin went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two steals.
Jenel Mallari went 1-for-2 with one triple, one run scored, and one RBI.
Jianna Cota went 1-for-2 with one RBI, one run scored, one walk, and one steal.
Ariana Retuta went 1-for-3
Bree Waldron went 0-for-a with two walks.
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