Box Score (vs. Hope)

Box Score (vs. Finlandia)

Box Score (vs. Simpson)

Box Score (vs. UW-Oshkosh

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Edgewood College softball team opened the 2011 season at the Finlandia University Dome Tournament with four games. The Eagles fell to Hope College and Finlandia University on Friday before falling to Simpson College and UW-Oshkosh on Saturday morning.

Edgewood College (0-4) fell behind Hope College (1-0) early as the Flying Dutch tallied two runs in each of the first two frames, but the Eagles had an answer in the bottom of the second inning. Jessica Spitzer led off the inning with a double, before Pam Sommer flied out. Monica Humphrey then blasted the first home run of her career to get the Eagles on the board and cut the deficit to 4-2.

However, Hope then opened the game up in the third inning when they plated six runs. Kristin Higgs dealt the big blow with a three-run home run to cap the scoring and chase Eagle starting pitcher Charlie Leikness from the game and the Flying Dutch led 10-2 after two and a half innings. Hope tacked on four more runs to take the game 14-2 in five innings.

The Eagles then played host Finlandia University (1-1) in the nightcap. After both teams failed to score over the first three innings, the Eagles grabbed the lead in the fourth frame. Bria Hahn started the inning with a walk, and then after an out, Spitzer singled to put runners on first and second. Sommer followed with a double to score Hahn and Jasha Gilbert recorded her first career run batted in with a single that scored Spitzer. Sommer then scored on a ground out to put the Eagles up 3-0.

The Lions came back in the fifth inning with two runs, to cut the Eagle lead to one, but the Eagles got one run back in the top of the sixth. Sommer tripled then scored on a Leikness sacrifice fly to put the Eagles up 4-2. Finlandia then exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the sixth, with big blow being a Brittany Garland grand slam to put the Lions up 7-4. The Eagles went down in order in the seventh, giving the Lions the 7-4 win.

Edgewood College had a quick turnaround to face Simpson College (1-0) on Saturday morning, and the Storm jumped ahead with two runs in the first inning. The Eagles held the Storm in check for a couple innings and cut the deficit in half when Hahn drove in Gilbert to make the score 2-1 after three innings. However, the Simpson offense exploded for eight runs over the final two innings, including five runs in the fourth inning. The onslaught was highlighted by a pair of two-run home runs as the Storm took the contest 10-1 in five innings.

In the final game of the weekend, the Eagles squared off with UW-Oshkosh. The Titans (1-1) wasted no time getting on the board as leadoff hitter Sydnee Wyss hit a home run, to spark a nine run top of the first inning. Edgewood College's best scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning as the Eagles loaded the bases with only one out. However, the Titans got out of the jam and cruised to the 14-0 victory in five innings.

For the weekend, Spitzer led the team with a .364 batting average with two of her four hits being doubles. Sommer hit .300 in the tournament with one double, one triple and one run batted in. Humphrey led the Eagles with two runs batted in over the weekend and belted the Eagles' first home run of the season.

The Eagles will next be in action when the go on their spring trip to Fort Myers, Florida. Edgewood College will play 10 games at the Gene Cusic Classic from March 14-19. Check EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com for updates on Eagle softball.