Pride split day with 10-0 win over Viterbo and 6-5 loss to Northwestern
AUSTIN, Minn. - Back in the same place they started their season at last week, the Clarke University softball team was only able to come up with a single win in two games as they split their doubleheader with a 10-0 win over Viterbo University and a 6-5 loss to Northwestern College.
The second game of the day was a nailbiter to the final out as the Pride had the tying run at third base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but came up just short of bringing that run home to finish down a run.
In that seventh inning, CU gave themselves a chance while being down 6-3 heading into that bottom half of the inning as they started the inning with three-straight singles to load the bases as a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly set them up for the tying run on third but Malarie Huseman was retired to end the inning.
Clarke started the game on top with a run in the first on a Lindsey Hermann RBI single in the bottom of the first but that was quickly answered by the Raiders with two runs in the top of the second.
NWC added on with another run in the third and two more in the sixth to lead 5-1 before a pair of Pride runs on Kila Carbine and Izriah Hodson RBIs made it 5-3 as Northwestern added that eventual crucial insurance run in the top of the seventh to lead 6-3.
Carbine started and pitched a complete game for CU against Northwestern as she allowed only three of the six runs to be earned on 11 hits. At the plate outside of the RBIs, Lily King went 2-for-3 with two runs scored as she set the table at the top of the order in both games.
In the 10-0 win over the V-Hawks, the game went scoreless for the first two innings before the bats broke out for the Pride in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as they scored four, three, and three respectively.
King went 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot to score three runs and add an RBI for the Pride as Samantha Stout did a lot of the same from the nine-hole, going 2-for-2 with three runs and an RBI. Malarie Huseman shined in the circle and at the plate with two hits, two runs, and two RBIs hitting and a two-hit complete game shutout through the five innings with only one walk and nine strikeouts.
Clarke softball will take an extended weekend trip down to Kissimmee, Fla. for six games over three days starting next Friday, Feb. 25 until Sunday, Feb. 27 as they will face Mount Vernon Nazarene, Cleary, Michigan-Dearborn, Warner, and Point Park.