Feb. 20, 2015 Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
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CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - An offensive outpouring got the LMU softball team off on the right foot to open play at the 12th Annual Mary Nutter Classic Friday in Cathedral City. The Lions pounded out 17 hits against Indiana on their way to a 13-5 win over the Hoosiers. In their second game of the day, a two-run seventh propelled Syracuse to a come-from behind, 4-3, final.
Sophomores Alex Finie and Amanda Dirks, along with Freshman Alicia Brown, led the Lion battery against Indiana. Finie went 4-for-5 with three RBIs from the leadoff spot. Dirks collected three hits and Brown went 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
A five-run second got things going for LMU (4-6) beginning with a two-RBI double by Brown. Two batters later, Stephanie Maciel launched a three-run homer to left center, forcing a pitching change for the Hoosiers. Reliever Lora Olson managed back-to-back ground outs to end the inning.
But the Lions weren't finished. Another two-RBI hit by Brown coupled with an unearned run off an Indiana fielding error gave LMU an 8-0 cushion through two-and-a-half innings.
Indiana scored twice in the home half of the third, once in the fifth and twice in the sixth, but it was to no avail as the Lions tacked on two more in the sixth courtesy a Nicole Kaiser home run and three in the seventh off a Finie three-run homer.
Against Syracuse, the Lions were held to just five hits, scoring one run each in the third, sixth and seventh. The Orange opened the game with a two-run first, before LMU rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh. Dirks would double in Maciel, who reached on a walk, for the go-ahead run.
But with two outs in bottom of the seventh, Syracuse strung together four singles, including the game-winning hit by Julie Wambold.
Rachael Farrington took the loss for the Lions after striking out four, walking three and surrendering seven hits for four earned runs in 6.2 innings.
Five Lions tallied hits including Finie, Maciel, Dirks, Kaiser and Hannah Montalban.
LMU returns to action Saturday, facing No. 3 Oklahoma at 8:00 p.m. They conclude tournament play on Sunday against UC Santa Barbara (2:00 p.m.) and Fresno State (4:30 p.m.).
