WINTER HAVEN, FL- The Calvin softball team went 1-1 one day two of its spring trip as the Knights beat Neumann but fell to Wartburg.
 
GAME 1
CALVIN 7, NEUMANN 0
 
In the first game of the day the Knights got off to a hot start as lead-off batter Sydney Duong (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo) doubled to left center in the first inning. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Duong scored when senior Hannah Biddlecome (Dallas, Tx./Portage) hit a sacrifice grounder to the right side of the field.
 
In the third inning Duong beat out a ground ball to the shortstop to get on first. Two batters later Emilie Gist (Bettendorf, Iowa/Benttendorf) bunted to find her way on before Kelley singled up the middle and scored both runners.
 
Calvin headed into the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead and kept the hot bats going. Kennedi Pepin (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley) singled through the left side to lead off and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore second baseman Sage Mougin (New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie) was able to draw a walk to put her on first before a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. A single through the right side by Biddlecome scored Pepin and advanced Mougin to third. On the next play Gist hit a hard ground ball back up the middle which scored both runners on base.
 
The Knights rounded out their scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning when Emma Walker (Hamilton, Mich./Saugatuck) hit a single and was driven in three batters later as Gist picked up her third RBI of the game.
 
Sophomore pitcher Zoe Hazelhoff (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo) picked up her first win of the season as she pitched all seven innings. She struck out eight batters and only giving up two hits.
 
GAME 2
CALVIN 0, WARTBURG 5
 
In the second game of the day the Knights squared off against Wartburg. Calvin had a scoring opportunity in the first inning when Biddlecome singled to left field. The Knights couldn not string enough hits together however and she was left stranded on third. In the bottom of the first Wartburg was able to sneak a run across to take a quick lead.
 
In the second inning Wartburg added another run before tallying two more in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. At the plate the Knights struggled to find holes in the tight Wartburg defense. Their best scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning when Taylor Sanborn (Midland, Mich./Midland) reached first on a fielder's choice. Biddlecome then forced a walk before both runners were left stranded when the next batter flew out to right field. Wartburg wrapped up the scoring with another run in the bottom of the fifth to beat Calvin 5-0.
 
Senior Kirsten Krause (Fredonia, Wis./Grafton) started on the mound for the Knights and was relieved in the fifth inning by freshman Emma Ludema (Martin, Mich./Wayland).
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Against Neumann our defense played very well behind and outstanding performance form Zoe," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "Offensively we had nice production from several people within the order. Against, Wartburg we had a few costly mistakes defensively and against a top ten caliber team you can't dig yourself into those holes. Offensively, we had our chances, but we were unable to execute in a few key moments to score runners. There were many good things to take from today, but we still have more work to do."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Thursday, March 2^nd when they take on Saint Mary's (Minn.) at 9 a.m. and Cabrini at 11:30 a.m.