ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team dropped both ends of Sunday's doubleheader against host Bethel University. The Knights were unable to hold the early lead in game one, falling 10-4, before dropping the second game by an 8-0 tally.
GAME 1 RECAP
A single by
Trina Eichel (Jr./Alameda, Calif./Alameda) followed by back-to-back doubles by
Madison Collins (Jr./Elmhurst, Ill./York) and
Laurie Avila (So./Sugar Grove, Ill./Oswego) gave Carleton (0-4, 0-4 MIAC) a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
Bethel (12-4, 5-1 MIAC) answered with a two-run home run by Calli Maki in the bottom of the inning and moved in front via Jamie Axelberg's three-run homer in the third inning.
The Knights solved Maki—who tossed a complete game for the Royals—for two more runs in the top of the sixth. With two down, Avila singled ahead of
Brooke McKelvey's (Jr./West Linn, Ore./West Linn) triple.
Reagan Wills (Fy./Longmont, Colo./Niwot) followed with a RBI single to center.
Eichel went 2-for-3 and was the lone Knight with a multi-hit game.
GAME 2 RECAP
Bethel righthander Kayla Simacek dominated from the opening pitch and tossed a five-inning no-hitter. She struck out 10 of the 16 batters she faced and only missed a perfect game because she hit McKelvey with a pitch in the second inning.
Maki and Axelberg combined to go 3-for-5 with a double, triple, home run and 4 RBI to lead a Royal lineup that totaled seven extra-base hits in the contest.
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
Things don't get any easier for Carleton as the team hosts the University of St. Thomas—winners of 15 of the last 16 MIAC regular-season titles—for a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 15.
