MONMOUTH, Ill. - In what was their first conference doubleheader of the 2022 season, Ripon lost a pair of close games at Monmouth College Saturday afternoon. The Red Hawks came back to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning of game one, only to see it slip away in a 6-5 loss, before dropping the second game 8-6.

Ripon jumped on the scoreboard early in the first game, as Micaela Encarnacion scored on a Brennah Bronk double in the top of the first. Monmouth tied the score with a run in the bottom of that frame, before taking a 3-1 lead with two more runs in the third. Ripon would get one of those runs back in the fifth on Abby Gilbertson's first home run of the season over the right field fence.

The Red Hawks would tie the game in the top of the seventh on a sac fly by Maddie Hablewitz, which scored Gilbertson from third base. Anna Bauer then doubled in two more runs, giving Ripon the lead entering the bottom of the final inning. Monmouth matched Ripon with three of their own runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory, earning the walk-off win on a two-run single with no outs.

 Ripon out-hit Monmouth 10-8, led by Bronk's 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Encarnation, Gilbertson, and Mikaela Lawrence each added a pair of hits. Savanna Trittlewitz suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing just two earned runs and striking out four, while walking just one in a six-inning complete game.

The second game of the doubleheader saw Ripon again take the game's first lead, as Anna Bauer crossed the plate in the top of the first on a Monmouth fielding error. The Red Hawks added to that lead with three more runs in the second on RBI from Gilbertson, Encarnacion, and Bronk.

Monmouth finally got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second, before taking their first lead of the contest with a five-run third to take a 6-4 lead. Ripon cut it to one in the fourth when Hablewitz scored on another Monmouth error. The Fighting Scots would get two much needed insurance runs in the fifth, as Claire Luebke drove in a run for the Red Hawks on a sac fly in the sixth to cap the scoring.

The two teams combined for 25 hits in game two, with Ripon recording 12 of those. Bauer led the way with three base knocks, while Bronk and Gilbertson each recorded two. Bronk started in the circle and allowed three earned runs while striking out two in 5.2 innings of work.

Ripon will be back in action on Sunday, as they'll travel to Cornell College. That doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and can be seen live, with LiveStats, at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/#live.