Pride pull off doubleheader sweep over Waldorf to start 2022

AUSTIN, Minn. - Getting their 2022 off to a strong start, the Clarke University softball team earned a pair of wins in their doubleheader against Waldorf on Saturday at the Packer Dome in Austin Minn.

The Pride slugged their way to a 13-4 win in six innings in the opener as they pounded out 17 hits on their way to the 13 runs with five extra base hits. In game two, it would take eight innings to break a back-and-forth game that was tied 6-6 before a two-out error with the bases loaded allowed CU to take the lead and hold on in the bottom of the eighth for the 7-6 win.

In the opener, five players had multi-hit games led by the 4-for-4 performance from Leah Gray as she drove in two runs and scored two runs. Kila Carbine (3), Daija Bates (2), Lindsey Herrmann (2), Abby Archer (2) also had a multi-hit game in the opener with Carbine and Bates driving in two runs each.

In the circle for all but two outs in the first game and five innings in the second game, Malarie Huseman shined in her Clarke debut as she combined for nine hits allowed, only one earned run allowed, and 16 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched over each game with 5.2 in game one, and 5.0 in the second game.

Offensively in the second game, it was a slower start for CU as they trailed 5-2 after three innings but the fourth inning sprung a comeback for the Pride that was capped by a two-run home run by Izriah Hodson to left center to make it a 6-5 game at the time.

Elizabeth Leverton and Lily King bookended the lineup with three-hit performances each as King drove in a run and scored twice and Leverton scored one run.

Clarke softball will head back to the Packer Dome next Saturday to face Viterbo University and Northwestern College at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. CT on Feb 19.