Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Lauren Wherry sprints around third during their doubleheader against St. Peter on Friday. Marshall defeated St. Peter 3-0 in Game 1 and 8-3 in Game 2.

MARSHALL — The Marshall softball team wanted to honor its four seniors in style on Senior Day during its doubleheader against St. Peter. Behind a combination of strong outings by both Morgan Bjella and Olivia Houseman and a solid day at the plate, Marshall did just that, earning a doubleheader sweep with a 3-0 victory in Game 1 and an 8-3 win in Game 2 on Friday.

Marshall coach Jack Houseman said he was pleased with their overall effort and felt everybody made plays whether it was at bat or on defense.

“I think everybody contributed, we made some great defensive plays, Leah [Schaefer] played great behind the plate and saved a lot of base advancements there and Olivia and Morgan did their job,” coach Houseman said. “So we played well and found a way to get some hits; overall it was a good team effort.”

In the opener, Marshall jumped out to a quick start, with Taylor Ariasola reaching on an infield single before Lauren Wherry drew a walk and Schaefer connected on a two-run double to make it 2-0 after one. Both team’s starters would then settle into their respective zones over the next few innings, as Bjella only allowed one hit during that stretch.

After not being able to capitalize on offense after the first, Marshall took advantage in the bottom of the fifth, with Wherry getting a leadoff double before Randi Wendorff reached on an error to bring in a run and push their lead to 3-0 after five. Bjella then continued her strong outing in the circle, allowing just one hit the rest of the way to seal the victory.

Bjella earned the victory, going all seven innings while allowing no runs on three hits and struck out nine.

Schaefer led Marshall with two hits and two RBIs while Ariasola and Regan Loft each had two hits and Wherry had a hit.

Game 2 saw a back-and-forth start, with Marshall’s Loft reaching on an error before scoring on an RBI single by Brenna Springborg before St. Peter used a trio of singles to tie things up at 1-1 after two. MHS answered right back, though, as Bjella got a leadoff double before Lexie Bednarek smacked a two-run shot to make it 3-1 after three.

After a scoreless fourth, Marshall continued its offense in the fifth, with Bednarek connecting on a single before Schaefer got an RBI single to push the lead to 4-1. Marshall wasn’t done there, as Mackenzie Olsen and Springborg got back-to-back singles before Bednarek and Wherry lined consecutive doubles that plated three runs and made it 7-1.

St. Peter wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, using a hit by pitch, a single and an error to load the bases with no outs before getting a two-out, two-run double to draw the deficit to 7-3 after six. Marshall then added a run on an error in the seventh to bring it to the 8-3 final and complete the sweep.

Bednarek led Marshall with four hits, including a home run, and four RBIs and finished just a triple short of the cycle. Loft added three hits while Springborg had two hits and two RBIs.

Coach Houseman said their key offensively, especially in Game 2, was their ability to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

“We got a few more hits when we had runners in position,” coach Houseman said. “Lexie did a great job at the plate and got plenty of RBIs when we needed it and we seemed to be able to find that hit when we had runners on.”

Houseman earned the win in the circle, going four innings while allowing one run on four hits and struck out two. Bjella tossed the final three frames, allowing two runs on two hits and struck out two.

Coach Houseman said both of his starters did a good job of mixing pitches and attacking the zone in both games.

“They’re going to throw strikes, they’re going to do what they’ve been doing for us for quite a few years now,” coach Houseman said. “They were keeping batters off-balance and mixed pitches and put us in a position to win.”

Up next

Marshall (5-1) will face Worthington on the road on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Going into their next matchups, coach Houseman said they need to continue their momentum and maintain their confidence as a group.

“Hopefully this gives us some momentum going into a busy schedule,” coach Houseman said. “I’m proud of the girls for the way they played because we really haven’t played much yet, so it was a good test for both of our starters because we had to play two and we’ve got a lot more doubleheaders. Hopefully we can take that confidence and our batters can use that and we can keep going.”

Game 1

Marshall 3, St. Peter 0

St. Peter 000 000 0 – 0 3 3

Marshall 200 010 X – 3 7 1

Hitting: Marshall (Ariasola 2-4; Wherry 1-2; L. Schaefer 2-3, 2 RBI; Loft 2-3).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Bjella 7-0-0-3-0-9).

Game 2

Marshall 8, St. Peter 3

Marshall 012 013 1 – 8 14 2

St. Peter 010 002 0 – 3 6 5

Hitting: Marshall (Bjella 1-5; L. Bednarek 4-4, HR, 4 RBI; Wherry 1-4, RBI; L. Schaefer 1-4, RBI; Loft 3-4; Steinbach 1-3; Olsen 1-1; Springborg 2-3, 2 RBI).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Houseman 4-1-1-4-1-2; Bjella 3-2-0-2-0-2).