V-Hawks Shutout Knights at Home

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Softball team claimed a pair of 9-0 wins over Martin Luther College (Minn.) on Tuesday afternoon. The V-Hawks improve to 4-14 on the season, while the Knights drop to 3-9.

The games were moved from MLC to Viterbo, so Viterbo batted first in the first game, and started it the best way possible, with five runs scored on seven hits, including an Alina Garstka two-RBI double, a two-run home run by Brittany Slocum, and a Channing Manske RBI single. Courtney Denton would score in the top of the third after the Knights failed to catch Manske stealing, and Emma Kuncl brought in Slocum with a single in the top of the fourth. Kamryann Korish and Slocum each added RBI singles in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to nine, and the V-Hawks would claim victory.

Slocum led the V-Hawks offense, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Garstka added two RBIs on 2-for-3 hitting. Jordan Heckendorf went 2-for-2 for the Knights. Maddie Wilkey (W, 2-6) had two strikeouts, as did Ella Driebel in her one inning of relief pitching.

While neither team would score in the first inning of the second game, Viterbo would get on the board first again, as Megan Jardine's single to center field brought in Logan Neblock. Neblock would then record a pair of RBIs of her own, as her single to right field scored Sydney Haakenson and Makayla Nortman in the bottom of the third. They kept the momentum going in the bottom of the fourth with four more runs on three hits, including a Grace Brewer RBI, a Haakenson RBI single, a Garstka sacrifice fly, and Brewer finding home as another runner was caught stealing. Nortman would end the game in the fifth innings, with a single to left field that would bring in Manske and Addie Schroeder to go up 9-0.

Neblock led a V-Hawk team that batted .476 (10-21) by going 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, and Nortman added two RBIs on a 2-for-3 performance as well. Morgan Fuhrer (W, 1-0) earned the win in her first start.

The V-Hawks return to action on Thursday, March 30 with a doubleheader at St. Mary's University (Minn.).