ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Today the Calvin softball team wrapped up their weekend in St. Louis, Missouri with games against No. 11 Central College and Washington University.
 
GAME 1
CALVIN 1, CENTRAL 9
 
Despite taking down the No. 11 ranked Central College yesterday 4-2, today's rematch against the Dutch did not go the same way.
 
With junior Emma Ludema (Martin, Mich./Wayland) on the mound for the Knights, Central College struck first when they were able to push a run across the plate in the top of the second inning.
 
The Knights found an answer in the bottom of the fifth when a sacrifice fly from junior third baseman Carly Dole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) scored Aubrey Herder (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) to tie the score at 1-1.
 
However, from that point forward the Dutch took control as they went on to score eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to claim the 9-1 victory.
 
Freshman designated hitter Valeria Frias (Wyoming, Mich./Potters House) and Dole each recorded two hits during the game. 
 
GAME 2
CALVIN 3, WASH U 1
 
In the second game of the day the Knights looked to take on the Bears of Washington University in what proved to be quite the pitching battle. In the circle for Calvin, junior Brooke Hunderman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Calvin Christian) kept the Wash U hitters off-balance and kept scoring chances to a minimum.
 
It wasn't until the bottom of the fifth inning that the Bears got some momentum and pushed a run across the plate to take the 1-0 lead.
 
The Knights didn't wait long to respond as they got things rolling in the top of the sixth when senior catcher Taylor Sanborn (Midland, Mich./Midland) punched a single up the middle to score pinch runner Sage Mougin (New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie). One batter later, the Knights took advantage of a Wash U fielding error as Dole and Lily Gaastra (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) both crossed the plate to give Calvin the 3-1 lead.
 
For the next two innings the Knights defense locked in behind Hunderman as they successfully retired the Bear hitter and walked away with the 3-1 victory.
 
Sophomore Emily Sweetland (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline) finished the game with two hits while junior Tory Decker (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) was credited with two RBIs. Hunderman finished the day with five strikeouts in seven innings pitched.
 
COACHES COMMENT: "I am really happy with how we bounced back against Wash U after a bit of a rough sixth inning against Central where we allowed things to spiral to the point where we couldn't recover," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "That was a good test for us and I was happy with our response. The win against Wash U is big as they are a tough team who will be in the post season again with a veteran group. We certainly learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and will continue to get better this week before we head to Florida for a tough 10-game stretch."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Monday, March 10th when they kick off their spring trip to Florida against Lakeland at 2PM and Swarthmore College at 4:15PM.