VERONA, Wis. – Edgewood College (14-22, 8-10 NACC) remains one game out of sixth place in the NACC after splitting a doubleheader against Marian University (10-24, 4-14 NACC) Sunday afternoon at Ceniti Park. The Eagles won 7-5 in game one and then fell short in the longest game in school history in the nightcap by a score of 6-3 in a 16-inning marathon.
The Eagles capitalized on six Sabres errors in the first game of the day and used those miscues to score at least two runs each in the second, third and fourth innings. Alyssa Schulting highlighted a three-run second inning in game one with a two-RBI double to right field, while Jackie Diesch pushed one across an inning later.
The Eagles responded to four runs from the Sabres in the top of the fourth with two more of their own to push their lead back to three in the bottom half. Alexis Unser and Katie Landon both had RBI fielder's choices in the frame.
Shannon Whitmus relieved Karlie Klossner after three innings and allowed just one run the rest of the way while striking out four. The Sabres threatened in the seventh by loading the bases with one out down 7-4. Whitmus got a popup before Heather Dorn singled in a run to load the bases again. Rachel DeJongh was then called on and got Gabby D'Oronzo to strike out looking for her second save of the season.
DeJongh's day was far from over after helping the Eagles escape in game one. She then battled with Marian pitchers Shannon Huray and Emily Gorges—who started for Marian in game one—and pitched a 16-inning complete game that lasted just over three and a half hours.
DeJongh entered the 16th and final inning with the score tied at three having already thrown over 200 pitches. She allowed three unearned runs after a costly error in the field behind her to let Marian come away with the victory. She walked the leadoff batter and got her first out after Cassidy Thielde pushed the lead runner to second on a sac bunt.
Rachel Andres then reached after a dropped pop fly in center field that pushed D'Oronzo to third base with still only one out. Andres then stole second but DeJongh got Marian leadoff batter Nicole LaBeck to pop up to Kylie Clark at shortstop, which would have been the third out of the inning. Tana Vanden Houvel was hit by a pitch and Gorges then pulled through for the visiting Sabres with a double down the right field line that cleared the bases.
The Eagles made things interesting by loading the bases with just one out in the bottom half of the 16th after an error, a double from Kayla Updike and a DeJongh walk, but Gorges got out of the jam by forcing a foul out and a strike out to end it.
Unser, Diesch and Schulting all had three hits for the Eagles, while Sabrina Maicke and DeJongh had the Eagles' only two RBIs in the game.
Gorges picked up the win after relieving Huray in the fifth. She wound up going 11.2 innings while striking out eight and scattering 11 hits.
DeJongh allowed six runs—three earned—over 16 innings on 12 hits and struck out eight. She faced 67 batters and wound up with a pitch count of 227, with 138 of those being strikes.
The Eagles will be off until Friday, April 24, when they have a crucial pair of road games against Lakeland starting at 3:00 pm. The Muskies will enter that date with a 12-game winning streak and are one game ahead of the Eagles in the NACC standings with a mark of 9-9.
