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brennanwartburg
Kylie Macziewski
Katie Brennan bloops an RBI triple in the second inning of Sunday's championship game against Wartburg.
9
Winner Wartburg College WARSB 23-16
3
Luther College LCSB 31-8
Winner
Wartburg College WARSB
23-16
9
Final
3
Luther College LCSB
31-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Wartburg College WARSB 3 2 0 0 4 0 0 9 9 0
Luther College LCSB 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 1

W: Ashley Nelson (12-8) L: Cooper, Kendra (21-4)

Game Recap: Softball |

Luther falls in A-R-C Championship game

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  – The stage was set perfectly for the Luther College softball team. After suffering a split to Wartburg College last weekend, the Norse had an opportunity to avenge one of their four conference losses in Sunday's American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Championship game. Unfortunately, revenge and a championship wasn't in the cards for Luther. Despite a hard fought battle, the Norse were unable to overcome an early Knights lead, falling in the conference championship game by final score of 9-3. With the loss, Luther ends the conference tournament with an overall record of 32-8 and a 12-4 mark in A-R-C play. 

GAME ONE: #22 LUTHER (3) vs. WARTBURG (9)
Things did not get off to the greatest start for the Norse. The Knights scored five runs in the opening two frames, allowing them to take an early 5-0 lead over Luther. However, the Norse bats came to life in the bottom of the second, as they cut the lead to 5-3 on three hits and a Wartburg error. Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn. / The Blake School) kickstarted the rally, lacing a single up the middle with two outs on the board. His speed proved extremely beneficial one pitch later. Katie Brennan (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) blooped a triple over the head of the Knights center fielder, allowing Vavrichek to score standing up and give the Norse yet another base runner in scoring position. 

Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) kept the good times rolling, as she legged out an infield single. Brennan broke from third on contact, scoring Luther's second run of the ball game to cut the lead to 5-2. It was then that chaos ensued for the Norse. After a strong performance against Central on Saturday, Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) hit the ball high and deep to right field, where Lauren Freirichs was patiently waiting. However, the ball rolled off the fingers of Freirichs' glove and into the right field grass.  With Berg in an all out sprint for home, it looked like there would be a play and the plate, but Berg's slide went uncontested at home, allowing Luther to whittle the lead all the way to 5-3 after two. 

Trailing by two, head coach Renae Hartl opted to put Olivia Engler (Atlantic, Iowa / Atlantic) in for Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) in the top of the third. Engler held the Knights offense at bay for two innings, giving the Norse a chance to whittle away at Wartburg's lead. Luther was unable to take advantage of the offensive opportunities, going down in order in the third and fourth. The Knights, meanwhile, did take advantage with runners in scoring position, scoring an additional five runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 9-3. 

Down by six with four innings remaining, the Norse batters continued to put the ball in play with nothing to show for it. After back-to-back-to-back innings of going down in order, Luther was down to its final three outs with Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdroy), Vavrichek and Brennan due at the plate. Allen grounded out to second base for out number one before Vavrichek legged out an infield single to second, giving the Norse their first base runner since that big second inning. With a runner on and one out, Hartl pinch hit for Brennan, sending Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) to the plate instead. The first year utility player did her job, lacing a single into center field to give Luther runners on second and third with one out. 

The runners moved into scoring position during Berg's at bat, bringing red-hot Forari to the plate. The senior watched two balls go by before Nelson was forced to throw a strike in a 2-0 hole. Forari watched it before hitting the next pitch between shortstop and third base. Reegan Deputy was unable to make the play, making it seem as though the Norse were going to load the bases with two outs with Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) coming to the plate. Unfortunately, Sydney Illig managed to come up with the play, throwing Forari out at first to end Luther's threat and secure the 9-3 win for the Knights. 

TOP NORSE

  • Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn. / The Blake School) and Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf)  were the only Norse batters to record multiple hits Sunday. Vavrichek was 2-3 with two singles and a run, while Forari was 2-4 with an RBI.
  • Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) suffered just her fourth loss of the season Sunday, falling to 21-4. The senior allowed five runs on four hits in two innings of work and tallied three strikeouts. 

UP NEXT
With a 32-8 overall record and top-3 ranking in the region, Luther will wait until Monday's selection show to see if they've earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Should they receive a bid, it would be the Norse first trip to an NCAA Regional since the 2018 season. The NCAA Selection Show will air on ncaa.org on Monday, May 15 at 12:00 p.m. CT. More information regarding Luther's fate will be announced on www.luthernorse.com. 

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