Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall left fielder Claire Kruse fields a ball in the outfield during a prep softball game against Willmar at the Marshall Softball Complex on Monday. The Cardinals defeated the Tigers 14-3 in five innings.

MARSHALL — Struggles on the defensive end decided the Marshall softball team’s non-conference matchup against Willmar on Monday. The Tigers’ errors gave the Cardinals 13 unanswered runs as Marshall fell 14-3 to remain winless on the season.

All three Marshall runs scored in the bottom of the fourth, trailing 14-0. Sara Dallman hit a leadoff single and scored when Alissa Moen reached on an error. A pair of walks to Claire Kruse and Jaela Morgan loaded the bases with two outs, and a Justine Kirst walk and a Bailynn Parsons single pushed across another pair of runs to cut the deficit to 11.

“They definitely have that drive to put it together, sometimes it just comes too late in the game,” Marshall head coach Stacey Baedke said. “We know we can do it. We’ve just got to lessen up those errors.”

The two teams were locked in a scoreless tie for the first two innings, but the Cardinals capitalized on five Marshall errors in the third to score five runs. Marshall finished the game with 13 errors while Willmar committed three.

Moen pitched the first 3 1/3 innings for the Tigers, giving up four hits and a pair of walks while striking out five batters. Of the 10 runs she allowed, nine were unearned. Dallman also threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, giving up four unearned runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.

“Alissa has been throwing great for us. Saturday she had 16 strikeouts in a game-and-a-half, today she had [five], she’s hitting her spots,” Baedke said. “She’s getting us ground balls, pop flies, easy routine plays. We just have to back her up defensively.”

Morgan reached base twice for Marshall with a single and a walk while Brynlee Dieken, Parsons and Dallman each also hit a single.

Grace Kalkbrenner pitched the first 3 2/3 innings for Willmar, surrendering three unearned runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Willmar nearly scored in the top of the fifth, but Parsons fielded a bunt, threw it to Morgan at first for one out, and then got the ball back and applied the tag at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

Another four Marshall errors in the fourth resulted in nine more Willmar runs to put the game out of reach.

With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the fifth, Marshall loaded the bases with one out when Moen reached on an error, Kirchner was hit by a pitch and Taylor Frana walked. Yet, a pair of strikeouts left the bases loaded without a run scored.

Claire Guennigsman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for Willmar, striking out four batters while walking one and holding Marshall without a hit.

Norah Nesges led the Willmar hitters with a double, a single and a pair of RBIs while Hannah Magnuson also chipped in a pair of singles.

Marshall falls to 0-12 on the season and next hosts St. Peter (6-7) today at 5:30 p.m.

MARSHALL FALLS JUST SHY OF FIRST WIN VS. WASECA

WASECA — The Marshall softball team put together some quality at-bats in the second game of their Big South doubleheader against Waseca on Saturday, but fell just short of its first victory. The Tigers lost the first game 2-0 and their eighth-inning rally fell shy with a 9-8 extra-innings loss in the second.

Sara Dallman led Marshall offensively with a pair of doubles on the day, while Brynlee Dieken recorded a double and a single and Bailynn Parsons and Haylee Kirschner each contributed a pair of singles.

Alissa Moen kept Marshall in the first game with six innings in the circle without allowing an earned run in the loss. She also allowed just one earned run over five innings to start the second, while Dallman threw another three innings without allowing an earned run. Yet, 12 Marshall errors resulted in eight unearned runs in the second game and another error accounted for both of Waseca’s runs in the first.

GAME 1

Waseca 2, Marshall 0

Marshall held Waseca scoreless for the first five innings of the doubleheader opener. In the sixth, however, the Bluejays got consecutive singles with one out. A throwing error allowed the two runners to advance into scoring position, and an RBI single and a sacrifice fly gave the Bluejays a 2-0 lead.

Dallman and Dieken singled consecutively to start the top of the seventh, but a pop out and consecutive strikeouts left the tying runs stranded on second and third.

Moen struck out 10 batters over her six innings in the circle, allowing five hits and a walk.

Parsons logged a pair of singles in the game while Dallman added a pair of doubles. Marshall did not draw a walk in the game.

GAME 2 (8 inn.)

Waseca 9, Marshall 8

Marshall trailed 7-6 heading into the seventh inning. Kirchner was hit by a pitch to start the frame, advanced to second on a Jennifer Lee bunt and stole third to get in scoring position with two outs. Parsons then came up with a clutch RBI single to score Kirchner and force extra innings.

In the top of the seventh, Waseca drew a walk and put runners on the corners on a Marshall error. An intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs, and another Marshall error gave the Bluejays a 9-7 lead before a pop out ended the inning.

With one last chance to extend the game, Dieken singled and scored on an Aubrey Schaefer single. Yet, a strikeout and a ground out ended the game with the tying run stranded on first.

Moen struck out six batters over the game’s first five innings, giving up four hits and three walks. Of the seven runs she allowed, six were unearned.

In relief, Dallman limited the Bluejays to one hit and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. Still, Marshall’s errors resulted in a pair of unearned runs against her.

Marshall took its lone lead of the game in the bottom of the second. Justine Kirst walked, Kirchner singled and Naya Grahn drew another walk to load the bases with two outs. Parsons then reached base on an error to drive in a pair of runs for a 2-0 Tiger lead. Yet, five Marshall errors in the next half-inning gave Waseca six runs.

Dieken logged a double, a single and a walk in the game, Kirchner contributed a pair of hits and Grahn and Kirst each recorded a hit and a walk