MOORHEAD, Minn. – On one of the biggest days for Dragons Athletics, the Dragon Fire Walk, the Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team came up big in the first game of a doubleheader against Upper Iowa. The Dragons earned a split with the Peacocks with a 10-6 win and 5-9 defeat.
Betsy Dickson got the Dragons going early with a single and followed it up with a steal of second. A.J. Hoefer drove in Dickson in the next at bat with a double to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
The Dragons broke open the game in the second when
Jessica Hollis and
Amanda Moore each singled to start the inning. After a
Jessica Mroz walk,
Katie Howland ripped a double to right field, scoring two on the play.
Desi DeMarco scored two more when she hit a triple to right field and the Dragons had a 5-0 lead after two innings.
After the Peacocks rallied for four in the next half inning, the Dragons put the Peacocks away for good in the fifth inning. Hoefer led off with a single, which was followed up by a double from
Casey Preston.
After a Hollis single that scored Hoefer,
Amanda Moore homered with two runners on to extend the Dragon lead.
Molly Keeler kept the rally going with a single and worked her way over to third thanks to a wild pitch and a groundout. Keeler would put the final tally on the board for the Dragons who won by a 10-6 final.
The second game saw the Dragons down early after the Peacocks scored two in their opening inning. The Dragons fought back as Hoefer walked to start the inning and would move up to second after a catcher interference call allowed Moore to reach base. Keeler would drive in both runners when she doubled to right field and tied the game up at 2-2 after two innings.
Down 5-2 in the fifth inning, the Dragons again came back to tie the game when Mroz singled down the left field line to start the rally. Dickson and Hoefer hit back-to-back doubles to bring two more home to cut the deficit to one.
The Dragons would make it three straight doubles when Preston hit one to left field and tied the game at 5-5. The Peacocks would come up with a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, and took game two by a final of 9-5.
The Dragons move to 5-25 on the season (3-5 NSIC) and the Peacocks now have a record of 11-13 (6-8 NSIC). The Dragons have now one three of their last four at home and look to keep the momentum going as they face Winona State on Sunday in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
