Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College freshman Rachel McCown throws the ball home during an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference softball game against Northwestern University Friday at MLC.
NEW ULM — Had it erased the top of the third inning, Friday night’s game against Northwestern University would have been more interesting for Martin Luther College heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Knights had chances to do damage control after that top of the third with their bats, but fell short in the end as the Eagles’ six-run third inning lifted them to a 10-3 win in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference softball play at MLC .
Chloe Berg led the Knights with a 3-for-3 day at the plate and two RBIs, while Jordyn Heckendorff was 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored.
Kate Beer was 3 for 3 with an RBI and two walks to lead the Eagles, while Grace Bentley was 3 for 5 with two RBI and a home run. Gabriel Keith was 2 for 5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI also for the Eagles.
Emma Heffron picked up the win in the circle, going all seven innings and allowing seven hits and two walks for three earned runs. She hit eight.
Jessica Horne took the complete game loss, allowing 16 hits and four walks for eight earned runs while striking out one.
Aside from Horn’s third inning, where she allowed eight hits and a wild pitch, the junior right-hander rallied after that.
“We’re watching the forwards beforehand, we’re watching film of other teams, we know we’re pressing, things we’re trying to keep,” MLC head softball coach Becca Doring said. “I give it to Jess, Jess has put in so much work as a junior, coming in as a high school non-participant and really putting in the work to do what we can. She’s a fighter and she didn’t want to get out in that inning and I give her a lot of credit for that.
“She was working a really tough zone with the umpire, but I thought she adjusted well and we’re really happy that she was able to mentally fight through that and come back and have some solid innings. Being a pitcher is tough in itself because it all starts with you, so we have to be able to get her. And when she has a tough inning like that, when we have opportunities, we definitely have to take her.”
Doering added that while she thinks the strike zone is a little tight on the sidelines, the calls are consistent and her players have to adapt.
“I was a referee in my previous career and I have a lot of respect for referees, especially at the collegiate level, because it’s not an easy job,” Doering said. “I will say he’s been very consistent about it, so I appreciate that. But you know it’s a tough thing, but we have to be able to adjust to it at the end of the day.
The Eagles, who opened the game with a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Jadyn Iverson, quickly lost that lead in the bottom of the first after Anna Busch stole second and Heckendorf came home to tie the game. MLC then got an RBI single from Berg to bring home Busch for a 2-1 lead.
Sydney Lane’s RBI single drove in Riley Summers in the second to tie the game at 2.
Then came the big six-run third inning that broke things open for the Eagles.
Bentley was the first to strike with a leadoff homer to left. UNW strung together four more hits before Horn was able to get Berg to pop out in the infield for the first out of the inning.
The Eagles added another run on the board before that out, however, and then got another pair of hits and a groundout to score three more runs. After batting into the lineup, Bentley again came to the plate and ended the scoring in the third with an RBI single to right, giving the Eagles an 8-2 lead.
Berg singled to right to drive in Heckendorff in the bottom of the third to put the Knights down 8-3.
After several scoreless frames, Heckendorf kept it going when he made a highlight-reel catch to center field in the top of the sixth for the save. On that play, Lane took control of the pitch and sent it deep to center, but Heckendorf got back quick enough to make a leap as he fell back into the fence to retire the side.
The Eagles added another pair of runs in the seventh after Beer scored on an error and Keith doubled in Regan Henning.
Emmalee Mindock walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh before Heckendorf singled to center, but the Knights stranded both runners after a popout and a groundout ended the game.
Doering said she is happy to get the chance to play UNW early in the season unlike last season. The Knights ended their season last year with a two-game losing streak against UNW in St. Paul.
“Northwestern is always a solid team,” Doering said. “They have a deep pitching, they have solid hitters, their coach [Alicia du’Monceaux] knows her stuff and has been doing this for a very long time, so we’re always very excited to play them because they’re a really solid team. So we knew they were going to be solid, so we knew we had to play a clean game, but we didn’t quite do that and that’s why the result was the way it was.”
The Knights (2-14, 0-2) will have another chance to beat the Eagles (10-7, 4-0) in a doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game starting at 11 a.m. at MLC.
