Skip to main content

Cardinals' softball rides a four-game winning streak to bring record back over .500

Lead Summary
,
By
Brennen Rupp

The Luverne Cardinals softball team went 3-2 last week to bring its overall record back to .500 at 7-7.
The Cardinals opened the week on Tuesday, May 4, with a pair of losses at home to Windom.
Luverne then bounced back by winning three straight to finish the week.
The Cardinals swept a doubleheader against Redwood Valley on Thursday, May 6, in Luverne, and they wrapped up the week with a victory over Fairmont on Friday, May 7, in Fairmont.
 
Windom 8, LHS 6
The Cardinals led 6-2 going into the final inning against the Eagles at home Tuesday, May 4, but were unable to hold the four-run lead .
Luverne starting pitcher Gracie Nath began the inning by striking out the first batter.
The Eagles were able to get one run across and had runners on third and second with one out when a Windom batter hit a three-run home run to tie the game at 6-6.
The Eagles added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning and took an 8-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were unable to mount a rally and fell 8-6.
The game started with the Eagles scoring one run in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom half of the inning the Cardinals left a pair of runners stranded in scoring position.
Nath recorded a pair of strikeouts in the second inning and the Cardinals set down the Eagles in order.
Averill Sehr drew a walk to open the bottom of the second inning. Sehr then stole second base to get in scoring position.
Emma Beyer hit a single to drive in Sehr and tie the game at 1-1.
In the third inning the Eagles scored a run to claim a 2-1 lead. Nath recorded three strikeouts in the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Sehr hit a leadoff double. The Cardinals were unable to drive her in and the Eagles held onto their one-run lead.
All three outs in the top of the fifth were caught by Sehr in centerfield.
In the bottom of the fifth, Carly Olson hit an RBI double to tie the game at 2-2.
Roz Oye followed Olson’s RBI double with an RBI double of her own to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
With two outs, Sehr hit an RBI triple to put the Cardinals up 4-2.
Olson hit another RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. The Cardinals added one more run in the inning to take a 6-2 lead into the final inning.
The Eagles scored six runs in the inning to take an 8-6 lead. The Cardinals were unable to answer and fell to the Eagles 8-6.
Nath recorded nine strikeouts for the Cardinals.
 
Windom 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 8 11 1
LHS        0 1 0 0 4 1 0 6 10 2
 
Batting: Connell 2-4, Olson 2-3, Oye 2-3, Sehr 2-3, Boll 1-2, Beyer 1-4
Doubles: Olson 2; Sehr, Oye
Triples: Sehr
RBI: Olson 2; Oye, Sehr, Beyer
Pitching: Nath 7 IP, 9 Ks
 
Windom 21, LHS 6
The momentum that the Eagles picked up in the seventh inning of the first game carried over into the second game of the May 4 doubleheader.
After the Cardinals scored one run in the top of the first, the Eagles scored 13 runs in the bottom half of the inning.
That 13-run first inning was too much to overcome for the Cardinals as they fell to the Eagles 21-6.
 
LHS          1 0 2 3 6 4 9
Windom 13 4 0 4 21 13 0
 
Batting: Connell 2-3, Oye 1-1, Wynia 1-1, Bork 1-1
Doubles: Connell 2
RBI: Connell 2; Oye, Sehr
 
LHS 13, RV 2
The Cardinals defeated Redwood Valley 13-2, on Thursday, May 6, in Luverne.
Luverne scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Redwood Valley answered back by scoring two runs in the top of the third inning to trim the lead to 5-2.
Luverne answered back by scoring a pair of runs to push their lead back to five runs.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Luverne scored six runs to take a 13-2 lead.
 
RV 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 8
LHS 0 5 2 6 x 13 7 3
 
Batting: Connell 2-3, Robinson 1-2, Olson 1-3, Oye 1-3, Boll 1-2, Smith 1-3
RBI: Connell 3, Olson 1, Oye 2, Boll 1, Smith 3, Bork 1
Pitching: Nath: 5 IP, 7 Ks
 
LHS 16, RV 1
Luverne won Game 2 of the doubleheader against Redwood Valley, 16-1.
The Cardinals scored nine runs in the first two innings to coast to the 15-run victory.
“It’s always good to bounce back after a tough loss with a couple of wins,” Luverne coach Brooks Maurer said.
“We felt like Thursday’s games were ones we needed to come out and take care of business right away and I felt like we did that.”
Billi Connell collected three hits, including a home run.
Olson also recorded three hits, including a pair of doubles, for the Cardinals. Olson also drove in a team-leading four runs.
Beyer hit a pair of doubles.
Leah Wynia collected two hits, including a double.
Oye limited Redwood Valley to just one hit and recorded eight strikeouts in five innings.
 
LHS 3 6 0 4 3 16 17 3
RV 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4
 
Batting: Connell 3-5, Robinson 3-4, Olson 2-5, Oye 1-3, Sehr 1-3, Wynia 2-3, Smith 1-3, Beyer 2-4, Bork 2-4
Doubles: Olson 2, Beyer 2, Wynia
HR: Connell
RBI: Connell 2, Robinson 2, Olson 4, Oye 1, Sehr 1, Wynia 2, Smith 1, Bork 2
Pitching: Oye 5 IP, 8 Ks
 
LHS 7, Fairmont 3
The Cardinals won their third straight game on Friday, May 7, by defeating Fairmont 7-3 in Fairmont.
Fairmont struck first by scoring three runs in the bottom of the second.
Luverne answered right back with three runs of their own in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Luverne scored one run in the fourth and fifth innings to claim a 5-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Cardinals scored a pair of insurance runs to take a 7-3 lead.
Fairmont was unable to mount a rally and fell to Luverne 7-3.
Connell fell one single shy of hitting for the cycle. Connell hit a double, a triple and a home run to lead the Cardinals’ offense. She also drove in three runs.
 
LHS 0 0 3 1 1 0 2 7 7 3
Fairmont 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1
 
Batting: Connell 3-4, Robinson 1-3, Sehr 1-3, Beyer 1-3, Bork 1-3
Doubles: Sehr, Connell
RBI: Connell 3, Sehr 1, Boll 1, Beyer 1
Pitching: Nath 7 IP

You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.