< their six game win streak was snapped in a split with Augsburg last Saturday, Knights softball has gone 0-4. In the past week, Concordia-Moorhead and Gustavus delivered the Knights a pair of decisive sweeps.
Returning to Bell after Saturday’s split with Augsburg, the Knights geared up to tally some wins against the Concordia Cobbers. Things didn’t go quite as planned with the Cobbers jumping on the Knights to take an early lead. Concordia notched five runs on the board in the first two innings, including a three-run homer.
The Knights defense did not recover from the Cobber’s early offensive drive and recorded seven errors for the day. Despite the Knight’s defensive difficulties, there were some impressive performances at the plate. Jocelyn Friedman ‘13 went 3-for-3 in the first game with Kelsey Parsons ’13 and Chelsea Yost ’13 added multiple hits to the tally.
In the nightcap, the Knights suffered from similar defensive maladies, losing the game 11-2.
“We’re making some fielding mistakes that we shouldn’t be making,” said outfielder Alex Schefter ‘11. “It’s just a matter of cleaning up some of our defensive play, and we’ll be back in the win column again.”
After two practices, the Knights laced up to compete against Gustavus on Wednesday. Once again, things didn’t quite go as planned as the Knights found themselves on the losing side of the equation. In the first game, the Gusties handed Carleton a 13-4 loss in five innings. The Knights were unable to capitalize in the nightcap, which resulted in a decisive 8-1 win for the Gusties.
A series of defensive miscues in the first game allowed the Gusties to overcome Carleton’s early three-run lead. Game two was a similar story with the Knights scoring first and the Gusties plating five unearned runs in the second inning. Offensively, both Yost and Friedman had RBI doubles for the day. Jenny Ramey ‘14, in a Carleton best performance, notched four hits for the day.
“We’ve just got to recover from this plague of defensive issues,” said Schefter. “Some good things happened at the plate today and they’ll continue to happen this weekend. We have several girls hitting over .400.”
Hoping the weather holds up, the Knights are back in the hunt for MIAC wins this weekend. The team looks to tighten up the defense and keep their bats hot at the College of Saint Benedict this Saturday at 1 p.m.
Dana Mackey is a member of the softball team.