CLERMONT, Florida – The Ripon softball program fell twice on Sunday as Endicott defeated the Red Hawks 16-7 in five innings before MSOE took the second game of the day, 9-1, in six innings.
 
Endicott (1-1) pounced on Ripon (1-5) early in game one, using a two-out, two-run homer in the first to grab a 2-0 advantage. Then, three more runs scored on a pair of singles as the Gulls led 5-0 after one. Endicott had similar success in the second, scoring 10 more times to pull in front 15-0, and added its final run of the game in the third.
 
Ripon broke through in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs. After three walks loaded the bases with nobody out, Ashlyn Schultz reached on a fielder's choice to get the Red Hawks on the board. With runners on second and third, Madelyn Heisler doubled home Schultz and Sydney Swanson to keep the line moving. However, the Red Hawks stranded runners at the corners to end the threat.
 
Ripon scored four times in the fifth to inch closer. With the bases loaded and one out, Schultz ripped a single through the middle to score Emily Kasuboski and Hadley Berendsen. Then, Karissa Jenz doubled home a pair for a four-run inning. However, the Gulls stranded a runner on third and took the game in five innings.
 
Offensively, Heisler was the only Red Hawk with multiple hits. The freshman was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Arianna Alirez (1x3, walk), Schultz (1x4, 2 RBI, 2 run) and Jenz (1x4, 2 RBI) also had base hits.
 
Brooklyn Cooper got the start on the mound and took the loss. The freshman went 1.1 innings, allowing seven hits and seven earned runs. Ashlynn Donahue pitched 3.2 innings in relief, surrendering six hits and eight earned runs.
 
Ripon and MSOE (2-2) endured a brief lightning delay in game two, but it was the Red Hawks that struck first in the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Heisler reached on a fielder's choice to score Jayden Markus. However, the Raiders erupted with five runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run single, an RBI single and another two-run single.
 
An RBI double scored another run for MSOE in the fourth, but Ripon loaded the bases in the fifth. Unfortunately, a fielder's choice ended the inning and the Ripon threat. A wild pitch and a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth ended the game in MSOE's favor.
 
Ripon had just four hits in game two, as Schultz (1x3), Heisler (1x3, RBI), Alayna Sadowska (1x3) and Nadiyah Huizar (1x3) all recorded base knocks. On the mound, Sadowska took the loss. She went three innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon's next varsity games are set for Wednesday (March 19) as Ripon faces off against Eastern Connecticut State (8 a.m. CT) and Hamline (1 p.m. CT).
 
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