OSHKOSH, WIS. – The Luther College softball team is used to playing in high pressure situations this season, and the stakes were never higher than Friday afternoon. The Norse needed to stave off elimination twice in the NCAA Regional and were tasked with beating both UW-Superior and UW-Oshkosh to advance to Saturday's Championship Series. Luther proved to be the superior team in game one, downing the upstart Yellowjackets 8-2. Then, in game two, the Norse held and early lead and loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, looking to upend the No. 2 seeded Titans and advance to Saturday. Sadly, it was not in the cards for Luther, which fell in the final game of the afternoon 6-2. With the split, the Norse end the season in the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 33-10 record.
GAME ONE: #25 LUTHER (8) vs. UW-SUPERIOR (2)
The Yellowjackets managed to hold Luther at bay for the first two innings, but the Norse bats found some energy in the top of the third. Luther's rally started with an error, as Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) reached on a fielding error by the shortstop to give the Norse a one out base runner. While she was out on the next at bat via fielder's choice, Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) kept the inning alive with a single up the middle. That brought Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central) to the plate with two outs. The senior hit a grounder with wicked backspin to the third baseman, who overthrew second trying to get Spore out on the force. The catcher was safe, and while UW-Superior was arguing with the umpire, Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) scored standing up from third, giving Luther a 1-0 lead.
Sydney Schultz (Raymond, Iowa / Columbus Catholic) eventually helped extend the lead to 2-0, as her hard hit grounder to shortstop forced another Yellowjackets error, this time allowing Spore to score. However, the Norse were unable to score throughout the remainder of the game, despite putting several runners on base. This allowed UW-Superior to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth, as the Yellowjackets scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth and an earned run in the bottom of the fifth to even things up at 2-2.
Luther's offense took matters into its own hands in the top of the sixth, as the Norse answered UW-Superior's big inning by scoring four runs on three hits and a Yellowjacket error. Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn. / The Blake School) got the party started, as his speed on the bases resulted in a UW-Superior error by the right fielder and a Norse on second base. However, it looked like Luther once again might come up empty handed, as Madi Urfer (Mounds View, Minn. / Irondale) and Berg both put the ball in play but were unable to move Vavrichek from second.
However, the Norse found life again during the next at bat, as Spore drew a two out walk despite confusion regarding the count. That brought a red-hot Crown to the plate, and the senior made the walk hurt in every way possible. With a hitter's count, Crown drove the ball into the right center gap, clearing the bases with an RBI triple to put Luther up 5-2. She then scored on a RBI infield single from Schultz, boosting the lead to 6-2 after six.
The Norse added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, courtesy of a Forari double, but the four run lead would have been enough for Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) and Sam Thompson (West Salem, Wis. / West Salem). After pitching six full innings, head coach Renae Hartl opted to replace Cooper with Thompson, and the senior did her job with efficiency, allowing just one hit in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 8-2 win for Luther.
GAME TWO: #25 LUTHER (2) vs. UW-OSHKOSH (6)
Cooper and the Norse weathered the storm in the first inning, as the fifth year senior gave up two bloop hits but no runs in the top of the inning. Thanks to a Schultz RBI double in the bottom, it was Luther that held the 1-0 advantage after one, as Alison Martinez (Brighton, Colo. / Brighton) scored on the senior's monster hit to deep right center for the first run of the ball game.
Once again, Cooper held the Titans bats at bay in the proceeding innings, allowing the Norse to extend their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Back-to-back doubles from Spore and Crown helped Luther score its second run of the ball game, but UW-Oshkosh responded by tying things up in the top of the fourth.
The Norse had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the inning, but were once again unable to take advantage of the scoring opportunity. The Titans were, as they took a 6-2 lead in the top of the fifth. Forari, though, put like back in the Luther dugout, hitting a leadoff double off the top of the fence in the bottom of the inning. The senior was stranded at second base, but the Norse put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) barreled the ball into left center for a leadoff single, prompting Hartl to put Katie Brennan (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) as a base runner. The senior would make it all the way to third, as a walk by Spore and a single from Crown loaded the bases with two outs for Schultz. The senior battled through her at bat, eventually hitting the ball up the middle for what appeared to be a base hit. A heads up play by the Titans shortstop allowed her to field the ball and slide dramatically into second, beating Crown to the base by near milliseconds to seal Luther's fate and end the game 6-2 in favor of UW-Oshkosh.
TOP NORSE
- Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central) and Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf) both recorded two hits for Luther in the game one win over UW-Superior. Forari was 2-3 at the plate with a run and two RBI, while Crown went 2-4 with a run and two RBI as well.
- Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) was 2-3 at the plate in game two and scored a run in Luther's 6-2 loss.
- Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) closed her collegiate career with a 22-6 record in her fifth and final season with the Norse. She now ranks top-3 all time in career innings pitched, career strikeouts and career appearances.
