St. Norbert Splits on Second Day in Rochester

From Sports Information Director, March 2, 2014 | Softball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

ROCHESTER, Minn. - St. Norbert College split its two games on its second day of action at the Rochester Community and Technical College Dome, losing a 7-6 eight-inning heartbreaker to UW-Eau Claire before turning around to double up Loras College 14-7.

St. Norbert (1-3) pounded out 16 hits against Loras and scored in every inning except the first. The Green Knights put up five runs in the second inning. JoAnna Ruppa had a two-run single, and Abby Gildernick followed with a two-run single for the big hits in the frame.

Emily Laufer connected on a solo home run in the third inning, while Codi Jenshak followed with a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run. St. Norbert took a 9-2 lead with two runs in the fourth inning, with Tayler Long posting an RBI single and Samantha Gross driving in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Loras scored five runs in the top of the fifth to cut its deficit to 9-7, but the Green Knights countered in their half of the inning with three runs. Jenshak hit a solo home run, and MacKenzie Hazen stroked a two-run homer in the inning. The Green Knights picked up two insurance runs in the sixth inning on a two-run homer by Jenshak.

Hazen finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Jenshak finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Gross, Gildernick and Laufer all had two hits apiece.

Haley Grunwald got the win, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings. Morgan Rusch allowed one hit in the last two innings.

The Green Knights suffered a tough loss against Eau Claire. St. Norbert held a 3-1 lead with two outs in the seventh inning, but the Blugolds scored two runs to tie the game on an infield error. St. Norbert pulled ahead in the eighth inning on a three-run home run by Gildernick, but Eau Claire scored four runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth to steal the win.

Jenshak finished 2-for-3 to lead the Green Knights, who had seven hits. Long added a two-run single in the second inning.