Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - After beginning the Midwest Conference season with a 2-0 record, the Ripon softball team appeared to be headed to 3-0, before allowing a one-run lead slip away, en route to a 4-1, 11-inning loss to St. Norbert College in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader. The Green Knights then completed the sweep with an 8-3 win in the second game, which featured a combined nine errors.

In the first game of the day, Ripon (5-15, 2-2 MWC) struck first, scoring a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Haylea Hoskins, which scored Korrine Peterson from second base. That lead lasted until the seventh inning, which saw St. Norbert's MacKenzie Hazen record a lead-off triple. She would tie the score one batter later when Emily Laufer drove her in with a double to center field. Ripon managed to get a runner to third in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't get her home, sending the game to extra innings.

It took four extra frames to decide the game, as St. Norbert (7-10, 2-0 MWC) scored three times in the top of the 11th to take control of the contest. Laufer put SNC in the lead for the first time, belting a two-run home run, while the other run scored on a Ripon error.

Cassie Bilotto led the Red Hawks with three hits, while Peterson and Ashley Gnacinski each had two base knocks. Gnacinski (4-8) suffered the loss, allowing three earned runs, while pitching all 11 innings and striking out five without walking a batter.

The second game saw St. Norbert jump on Ripon early with two runs in the top of the first, both scoring on a Codi Jenshak single. The Red Hawks pulled to within one when Peterson scored on a groundout in the bottom of the first, but that's as close as they would get the rest of the game. St. Norbert added a run in the third on a Ripon error, before scoring once more on an RBI double by Jessica DeMeuse in the fourth.

The Red Hawks scored on an SNC error in the bottom of the fourth, but the Green Knights put a three-spot on the board in the fifth to pull away. Ripon didn't stop fighting, as Ashley Parkkonen drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth, but that would be all the runs the Red Hawks could muster.

Bilotto and Stephanie Cartwright led Ripon with two hits apiece, with one of Bilotto's counting for her third double of the season. Parkkonen (0-5) took the loss, allowing five earned runs in five innings, while striking out two.

Ripon will next be in action on Friday in day one of the three-day MWC Classic where they'll play all six teams from the MWC South Division. Friday's games will be played against Illinois College and Lake Forest at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively, and will take place at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Ill.