DECORAH, IOWA  – Spring has officially sprung for the Luther College softball team. With the sun shining and the breeze blowing on Betty Hoff Field, the Norse were finally able to play their first home and conference games of the 2023 season. The team proved it was worth the wait, as Luther swept Buena Vista University in dominant fashion, winning game one 7-0 behind a no hitter from fifth year senior Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee). The Norse then went on to win game two 8-2, improving to 21-3 overall and 2-0 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play. 

GAME ONE: #24 LUTHER (7) vs. BUENA VISTA (0)
There wasn't a whole lot of scoring going on in game one between Luther and Buena Vista, as base runners were extremely hard to come by for both teams. While Cooper was absolutely dealing in the circle, Cyrah Rasmussen matched her pitch for pitch, resulting in a 0-0 draw after five innings of play. The Norse, though, threatened to score more often than the Beavers, but Rasmussen was able to plug the dam and stop the bleeding everytime Luther put a runner in scoring position. After getting hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first, Sydney Schultz (Raymond, Iowa / Columbus Catholic) was stranded at third base, and a timely double play by Buena Vista ended the Norse threat in the bottom of the second. 

From the second inning on, however, it was clear the game belonged to Cooper. Luther just had to provide run support. Cooper held the Beavers hitters at bay by not letting them touch a softball, as she struck out 10 consecutive batters from the second through the fifth inning. Her 10th was the 100th of the season, as she took a perfect game to the top of the fifth. While a full count walk ended her run at perfection, Cooper was unrattled, tallying another strikeout and a pop out to the shortstop to end Buena Vista's one and only threat in the top of the fifth. 

The Norse worked to give Cooper some run support but once again stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth. They eventually figured Rasmussen in the bottom of the sixth, breaking out for seven runs on seven hits. Back to back singles by Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) and Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) put runners on first and second before Leah Crown's (Plato, Minn. / Central) rocket of a single loaded the bases. It was then Luther scored the first runs of the ball game, as both Spore and Sauser's runners crossed home plate on a RBI single from Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) to give the Norse a 2-0 lead. The very next batter, Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn. / The Blake School) made it 3-0 with an RBI single before a Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdory) extended the Luther lead to 5-0. 

Of course, a 1-0 lead would have been enough for Cooper, but Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) blasted her fifth home run of the season to make it 7-0 Norse after six. Cooper then did what she does best. Though she only tallied one of her career-high 16 strikeouts in the top of the seventh, the fifth year senior continued to dominate, as she sent the three Beavers down in order to not only secure the win for Luther, but the first no hitter of her Norse career. 

GAME TWO:  #24 LUTHER (8) vs. BUENA VISTA (2)
The Norse did not need to wait very long to score their first runs of the ball game, as they scored seven in the top of the second for a 7-0 lead. Singles by Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) and Berg gave Luther an early 2-0 lead, before Spore was plunked with the bases loaded to make it 3-0 Norse with two outs. It was Sauser, though, that provided the fireworks in the innings. Up 1-0 in the count, Sauser sent an inside fastball over the trees in left field, hitting her first career grand slam in a Luther uniform to extend the Norse lead to 7-0. 

It looked like the Norse were destined to add more runs to their total in the bottom of the third, as walks from Wagner, Berg and Schultz loaded the bases with two outs. Buena Vista managed to keep Luther off the board that time around and responded by scoring two runs in the top of the fourth. That was the only rally the Beavers would muster against Sam Thompson (West Salem, Wis. / West Salem) and Olivia Engler (Atlantic, Iowa / Atlantic) over the course of seven innings. The Norse, meanwhile, added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, as Vavrichek scored on an Allen sac fly to make it 8-2 entering the top of the seventh. 

Buena Vista tried to make things interesting in the final inning of play, as Danica Workman drew a two out walk to give the Beavers a late base runner. Engler seemed unphased by the walk in the circle. With a 2-2 count, the sophomore got Buena Vista's lead off hitter to a soft pop up right back to her, as the pop out secured the 8-2 victory and sweep for Luther. 

TOP NORSE

• Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdroy) and Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) were the only players with multiple hits in Luther's game one win over the Beavers. Allen was 3-3 at the plate with one run and two RBI, while Forari was 2-3 as the Norse designated player with two RBI and a run scored as well. 
• Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) was lights out for Luther Friday afternoon, as her 11th win of the season was the first no hitter of her career. Cooper tallied a career-high 16 strikeouts in the complete game effort, allowing just one base runner on a walk in the bottom of the fifth. 
• Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) went 2-4 at the plate in game two, scoring one run and tallying a team-leading four RBI thanks to her grand slam in the bottom of the second. 
• Sam Thompson (West Salem, Wis. / West Salem) improved to 7-1 this season thanks to her four-inning effort in the circle. The senior surrendered just two earned runs on four hits in two innings of work, while Olivia Engler (Atlantic, Iowa / Atlantic) maintained Luther's lead with three flawless innings of work. 

UP NEXT
The Norse will enjoy the holiday weekend before returning to A-R-C play on Tuesday, April 11. Luther will travel to Dubuque, Iowa to take on Loras College, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Schedule updates, postponements or cancellations will be announced on the team's social media pages, along with www.luthernorse.com.