Pride drop pair of tight contests at Mount Mercy

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Continuing through the bulk of their conference schedule, the Clarke University softball team dropped 3-0 and 6-4 games to Mount Mercy University on Wednesday night.

The opening game was a struggle on the offensive side as CU only managed two hits in the game with Mount Mercy only producing five hits but coming through in scoring opportunities in the sixth inning as they scored all three of their runs in their final offensive inning.

Heading into the second game, it was a back and forth contest that saw the Pride jump out to an early 1-0 lead but MMU was able to build three straight one-run innings to eventually take a 3-1 lead.

This time, a Clarke three-run inning that saw RBI hits from Izriah Hodson, Malarie Huseman, and Elizabeth Leverton to put them up 4-3.

That trio finished the game with two hits each as Lindsey Herrmann also finished with a two-hit game and two runs scored from the leadoff position in the lineup. Herrmann and Leverton were also the two members of the Pride that had their hits in the opener.

But once again, it was a three-run bottom of the sixth inning off of Huseman for the second-straight game to provide a 6-4 lead to the Mustangs that they would hold on to in the seventh despite a Hodson leadoff triple for Mount Mercy to sweep the day.

Clarke softball will stay on the road for a doubleheader on Thursday against Culver-Stockton College as the series was flipped from Veterans Park in Dubuque to Canton, Mo. due to the expected weather forecasts.