ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - On the first day of the two-day Augustana (Ill.) Invitational on Saturday, the Ripon softball team lost both of their games, falling to 16th-ranked Augustana 11-3, before losing to Coe College by a score of 7-1. Despite the results, Ripon's bats were very lively in the cold weather, recording 10 hits in the two games combined, which included a pair of home runs.
In the first game of the morning, #16 Augustana (13-3-1) jumped on the Red Hawks early, scoring all 11 of their runs in the first three innings. That included three in the opening frame, scoring on an error, a double, and a ground out. Augustana's big inning came in the second when they saw six runners cross the plate, including three on a home run to center field.
The Red Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the second, as
Ashley Parkkonen hit a home run of her own, clearing the center field fence for the first long-ball as a Red Hawk.
Desiree Velazquez added an RBI single later in that inning, cutting Augustana's lead to seven.
Augustana added another home run in the third, which scored two more runs. In the fifth inning,
Meg Krautsch got into the action, belting a solo home run over the center field fence for her team-leading third of the year to make the score 11-3. Ripon would leave one runner stranded in the fifth, ending the game in five innings.
Tene Robinson led the Red Hawks with two hits in her only two at-bats. Parkkonen (0-4) suffered the loss, despite striking out four batters.
The second game saw Ripon (3-11) fall behind early as well, with Coe (12-5) scoring once in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring ground out. The Kohawks scored twice more in the fourth and four more times in the fifth, with the big blow coming on a two-run double. Ripon's only run came in the top of the seventh when
Ashley Gnacinski scored on a ground out by
Rebeccah Jones.
Gnacinski led the Red Hawks with two hits, while Krautsch recorded the team's only other base knock. Gnacinski (3-3) suffered the loss, but allowed just two earned runs on seven hits, while striking out eight.
Ripon will be in action again on Sunday when they'll face Wartburg and Coe at 9 and 11 a.m., respectively. The games will again be played at Carver Field in Rock Island, Ill.
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