LHS softball team sweeps Blue Earth

The Luverne Cardinals opened the 2021 softball season with a pair of wins against Blue Earth on Thursday, April 8, in Blue Earth.
The Cardinals won the first game of the double header 15-1 and the second game 18-6.
 
LHS 15, Blue Earth 1
In the first inning played in nearly two years, the Cardinals scored eight runs to put Blue Earth in an early 8-0 hole.
In the following frame the Cardinals added five more runs to build a 13-0 lead.
Blue Earth responded with one run in the bottom of the third, but the Cardinals scored two more runs in the top of the fourth to pick up the 15-1 win.
Billi Connell led the Cardinals offensively, going 4-4 with four doubles. Connell drove in four runs and scored four runs.
Carly Olson went 2-2 at the plate with two home runs. She drove in four runs and scored two runs.
Reghan Bork, Jacey Smith, Leah Wynia and Shelby Kracht all drove in one run for the Cardinals.
Roz Oye pitched a no-hitter for the Cardinals. She pitched four innings, issuing three walks, one unearned run and striking out five batters.
 
LHS 18, Blue Earth 6
Blue Earth scored one run in the top of the first inning, but that lead was short-lived, as the Cardinals scored 12 runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Connell went 4-4 at the plate with a home run and a double. Connell drove in six runs and scored three runs.
Oye went 3-3 at the plate with a double. The senior drove in two runs and scored two more.
Kracht went 2-4 with two RBIs.
Bork and Averill Sehr both drove in a pair of runs.
Emma Beyer and Belle Schmidt both scored three runs for the Cardinals.
Olson and Ainslie Robinson both drove in one run for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals will play their first home game of the season against Windom Area on Tuesday, April 13.