ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Nebraska Wesleyan softball team opened their 2018 season over the weekend going 1-3 at the Rochester Dome games in Rochester, Minn. NWU picked up an 8-3 victory over Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday (Feb. 25) to register the first win of the season. The Prairie Wolves dropped both games on Saturday, the trip finale on Sunday.
In the win over Gustavus Adolphus, the Prairie Wolves had two big offensive innings that led to the victory. In the bottom of the 3
rd inning, NWU broke open a scoreless game with three runs on four hits.
After GAC scored two runs in the top of the 5
th to pull within one, the Prairie Wolves erupted for four runs in the bottom of the 5
th inning to break the game open.
Jordan Arndt hit an RBI double and
Kailey Meyer hit a 2-run single as NWU had another four hit inning.
Arndt finished the game 4-4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored. Meyer went 2-4 with three RBI and
Maddy Ethen also had a 2-4 day at the plate with an RBI.
Jessie Briley pitched a complete game to earn the win on the mound. Briley allowed six hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts.
NWU managed just three hits in their final game falling 3-0 to the College of St. Benedict. The Prairie Wolves struck out eight times and didn't have an extra base hit in the loss.
To open the season, Nebraska Wesleyan played two games on Saturday (Feb. 24) facing Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Catherine's. UW-Eau Claire defeated NWU 9-2 in the opening game, then the Wolves fell 10-6 to St. Catherine's, a team ranked No. 8 in the nation.
In the opener, UW-Eau Claire jumped ahead 6-0 after three innings and didn't look back. The Prairie Wolves committed five errors in their season debut in the dome and managed four hits.
Maddy Ethen went 2-4 at the plate with a double with
Kayla Prai and
Nicole Vana each driving in a run.
Facing nationally-ranked St. Kate's, the Prairie Wolves jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage. However, St. Kate's responded with nine runs in the bottom of the 3
rd inning on seven hits. The Prairie Wolves did score two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth inning but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Three NWU players had two hits, including Arndt who was 2-3 with a double. Vana was 2-3 with two RBI and
Danelle Snyder went 2-4.
Nebraska Wesleyan will next travel to Florida for their spring break trip, playing 12 total games on the trip.