MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Edgewood College Softball team got their 2019 season off to a strong start, finishing 3-1 at the Finlandia University Dome Tournament. After finishing the first day of the season 1-1 with a close loss to St. Scholastica, the Eagles bounced back with two wins on the final day of competition. The Eagles saw strong pitching performances from Maddy Coppens and Emily Bloomfield; as Laurissa Belott, Jordan Anderson, and Hanna Fisher each finished the weekend with a batting average over .400.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Eagles gained confidence from a 2-1 victory over host Finlandia University in their first matchup on Saturday evening. The first run of the 2019 season came from smart baserunning, as Laurissa Belott took advantage of a dropped third strike and scored in the first inning. The run would tie the game at 1 a piece and it would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth inning, when a base hit from Jordan Anderson scored Grace Delleman.
- Edgewood College finished Saturday night with a 2-0 loss to St. Scholastica. Both of the Saints runs came in the fifth inning, one on a wild pitch and the other a ground-rule double. Despite the loss, the Eagles managed to get four hits down. The biggest hit of the contest came off the bat of Anderson, a double in the bottom of the fourth inning.
- The Eagles bats came alive against Northland College on Sunday morning. The largest win of the weekend was backed by 10 total hits and three doubles coming off the bats of Delleman, Anderson, and freshman Mackenzie Hoffman. Notably, Hoffman and Millie Benson recorded their first hits as Eagles.
- Against Northland, the Eagles came away with five stolen bases and scored in all but one inning.
- Edgewood College finished out the weekend by holding UW-Superior to no runs in a 5-0 victory. With just one on and two out, Delleman came up and laced an RBI double scoring Belott. A Yellow Jacket error allowed Delleman to score in the next at bat, and a single from Sabrina Luedtke scored Sabrina Maicke to give the Eagles a quick 3-0 lead going into the second inning.
- Another single from Luedtke in the third inning drove in Jenna Dunbar to put the Eagles up 4-0. In the sixth inning, Edgewood College put the finishing touches on a successful weekend, as Belott scored off an RBI single from Hanna Fisher after hitting a triple with two outs.
- Sophomore pitcher Maddy Coppens finished the weekend 2-0, with wins coming in the first and last game of the tournament. The De Pere, Wis. native threw 16 innings and came away with no earned runs.
- Freshman pitcher Emily Bloomfield finished her first collegiate weekend with a 1-1 record, pitching 12 innings, and only giving up one earned run in 47 at bats.
- Belott led the team with a 7-for-14 performance (.500 batting average) at the plate and adding five runs in the first four games of her sophomore campaign.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Edgewood College finished in second place overall, just behind Marian University (4-0) another NACC team.
UP NEXT
- The Eagles will take a bit of a break before playing 10 games at the Tucson Invitational Games on their spring break trip to Tucson, AZ. from March 16-20.
