Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall shortstop Taylor Frana (left) receives an attempt to throw out Pipestone outfielder Avery Reinhard as Reinhard steals second during the first game of a prep softball doubleheader in Marshall on Saturday afternoon. The Arrows swept the Tigers, rallying for a 4-2 win in the first game before defeating Marshall 11-1 in five innings in the second.

MARSHALL — A last-inning rally and early defensive struggles left Marshall with a pair of losses in its Big South Conference doubleheader against Pipestone Area on Monday. The Tigers led 2-1 heading into the final inning of the first game, but a two-run double and a sacrifice fly left them with a 4-2 loss. From there, the Tigers allowed 10 unearned runs on 11 errors in the second to fall 11-1 in five innings.

“They were playing like I know they can play. They were doing all the little things,” Marshall head coach Stacey Baedke said of her team’s performance in the first game. “Strong on defense, Alissa [Moen] throwing strikes, we were getting hits and scoring when we needed to. That’s the team that I know we have in us.”

Justine Kirst and Brynlee Dieken each reached base twice for the Tigers in the doubleheader, with Kirst accounting for a single and a walk while Dieken walked twice.

As a team, Marshall finished with six hits and five walks, with all of their hits coming in the first game and all of their walks coming in the second. Pipestone tallied 11 hits with two walks.

Moen gave up one earned run with 10 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings in a pair of starts for the Tigers while Sara Dallman pitched another four innings, giving up one earned run.

Marshall falls to 0-17 on the season and will look to bounce back when it hosts Luverne (8-8) and New Ulm (11-3) on Thursday for its home finale. New Ulm last defeated Marshall 15-0 in four innings on April 22.

“One game at a time, one pitch at a time, that’s really all we can do,” Baedke said. “I told them at the end of the huddle that if we play like we did that first game, we’re going to be just fine. We make the plays we need to, and the hits will come.”

The first game of Thursday’s Big South Conference doubleheader is slated for 4 p.m.

GAME 1

Marshall 2

The Tigers held a 2-1 lead heading into the seventh inning but the Pipestone bats stepped up in the clutch. Avery Reinhard reached base on an error, Josie Banks singled and Kenzley Pater walked to load the bases with one out. Kaysa Douty then hit a two-run double to give Pipestone the lead and Sienna Rieck hit a sacrifice fly to score another run for a 4-2 Pipestone advantage.

Marshall came to bat in the bottom of the frame with one last chance to win the game or force extra innings, but two strikeouts and a ground out left the Tigers short of their first win.

“We talked about at the end of the game how this was the best I’ve seen them play all season. We’re peaking at the right time here heading into sections in a couple of weeks,” Baedke said of the game’s tight finish. “We talked about how to bring that momentum into the second game and having that mentality of, ‘We’re going to win this game,’ instead of playing not to lose.”

Moen struck out 10 batters over the full seven innings for Marshall, giving up one earned run on four hits and a pair of walks.

Bailynn Parsons gave Marshall the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. After getting hit by a pitch, Parsons advanced to third on a Naya Grahn ground out and a Sara Dallman single before scoring on a Moen sacrifice fly.

The Tigers padded their early lead in the fifth when Taylor Frana and Claire Kruse started the frame with consecutive singles. Parsons laid down a bunt to advance the runners into scoring position and Grahn singled in Frana for a 2-0 Tiger lead.

Marshall finished the game with six hits from six different players, though it did not record a walk in the game. For Pipestone, Douty led the way with two of the Arrows’ four hits as well as a pair of RBIs.

Douty broke up Marshall’s shutout bid in the sixth when she reached base on a dropped third strike and scored when Mariah Moeller reached on an error with two outs.

Moeller pitched all seven innings for Pipestone, giving up two earned runs on six hits while striking out 11 batters.

Marshall 1

A hit batter, a dropped third strike and an error gave Pipestone the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Marshall went on to commit another pair of errors in the inning as Pipestone staked a 4-0 lead.

Marshall was held without a hit in the game, though Dieken walked twice and the Tigers as a whole walked five times.

Marshall got a run back in the top of the second when Kirst walked and, two outs later, Aubrey Schaefer, Dieken and Bailynn Parsons walked consecutively to force in a run.

Yet, Pipestone responded with a run in each of the next two innings and four more in the fourth to make the score 10-1. Douty then doubled in the fifth and scored when Moeller reached on an error to seal the game for Pipestone.

Moen pitched for one out in the second game, holding the Arrows without a hit or a walk but defensive errors left her charged with four unearned runs and the loss. Dallman pitched the next four innings, giving up one earned run and six unearned on six hits with a pair of strikeouts, while Jennifer Lee got one out while allowing one hit.

Douty pitched all five no-hit innings for Pipestone, striking out 10 Tigers while giving up one earned run. She also tied Rieck with a team-high two hits, and the duo’s two RBIs trailed only Reinhard’s four.