A doubleheader against Central College turned out to be double the trouble last week for the Loras softball team.
That’s been the story for a lot of Central’s opponents this year, as the Dutch are the No. 2-ranked team in all of NCAA Division III. Actually, the entire Iowa Conference is loaded with talented and experienced teams. The second-place team in the conference, Wartburg, is the No. 7-ranked team in the nation.
Coach Katie Koopmann believes the experience of playing in such a tough conference will help her team next year. She was most impressed by her team’s “ability to compete with the great teams of the IIAC,” she said. “We beat the teams that we should and competed hard with the others. We can always improve on all fundamentals. Learning the game even better with different situations will be key also.”
In the doubleheader, Central’s pitchers kept the Duhawks off balance en route to 6-2 and 10-0 victories.The Duhawks’ only runs came in the fifth inning of the first game, when infielder Michelle Bahl’s single drove in senior infielder Christina Schmidt and sophomore outfielder Kelsey Techlin.
Michelle Sabatini pitches against UW-Platteville
Pitcher Michelle Sabatini might have struggled against the mighty Dutch lineup, but the sophomore workhorse came back with a vengeance Friday against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In Loras’ 5-1 victory, Sabatini allowed just three hits at Faber-Clark Field. Sabatini threw a complete game, giving up only three hits and one run.
“Michelle Sabatini – when I recruited her in high school, I knew she was going to be a great pitcher,” Koopmann said. “With her being the only pitcher, she has come through. No matter what the score is or how she is feeling, she will give 100 percent.”
In the UW-Platteville game, Schmidt had two hits and senior Kim Chalekian homered to lead the offense. Senior right-fielder Chrissy Reed, sophomore catcher Tracy Sullivan and first-year outfielder Katie Sharp each drove in a run to help the cause.
On Saturday, Loras traveled to Cedar Rapids for a doubleheader against another Iowa Conference powerhouse in the form of Coe College, which scored 24 times in the two games to send the Duhawks home with two losses.
On Tuesday, the softball team ended the regular season with a doubleheader against Augustana in Rock Island, IL. The Duhawks won the first game, 2-0, but their bats came alive in a 10-6 victory in the second game. The hitting stars were junior infielder Emily Randecker, who had two hits, including a home run; Sullivan, who had two hits and three runs-batted-in; Techlin, who had three hits and scored twice; Bahl, who had two hits and two RBIs; and sophomore Deanna Angelini, who had two hits and scored a run.
The Duhawks finished the season with a 14-17 record, and they were 11-6 in non-conference play. In any other conference, the Duhawks likely would have made some waves. But Koopmann said it’s not all about wins and losses.
“The girls had fun, and that is important,” she added.
