NEW ULM, Minn. – North Central University softball (0-22, 0-8 UMAC) fell to Martin Luther College (10-11, 4-4 UMAC) on Tuesday afternoon on the road. The Rams gave up two late runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in game one giving the Knights the win. In game two, the Rams loss ended after five innings due to a strong second inning at the plate for the Knights. Kylee Bommersbach (Sartell, Minn./Sartell) led the Rams pitching efforts in game one and opened game two before being relieved by Amanda Roth (Appleton, Wis./Neenah). North Central outhit the Knights in game one, 11-6 but Martin Luther's bats came alive in game two outhitting the Rams 14-3 from the plate.

How It Happened

Game 1: After a scoreless first inning, in the bottom of the second, Martin Luther scored two runs taking the early lead over the Rams. However, top of the third the Rams scored two runs with help from a Martin Luther error to get Bommersbach on base. Amanda Roth and Abbey Erzberger (Milwaukee, Wis./Heritage Christian) took care of the rest sending Bommersbach home with a double from Roth and a single through the left side from Erzberger. Nora Sullivan (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) grounded out to the second baseman sending Roth home for the second run. In the bottom of the third, the Knights matched the Rams scoring for the inning bringing the Knights lead to 4-2 after three. The fourth inning ended quickly as each team recorded their three outs in a timely fashion. The top of the fifth inning saw the Rams offense come alive from the plate scoring four runs off five hits. Martin Luther stole back a run in the bottom of the inning and the Rams led 6-5 through the fifth. Both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Knights scored the final two runs and the final play of the game coming from a walk-off sacrifice fly. Amanda Roth was perfect from the plate getting four hits in each of her at bats. Kylee Bommersbach also recorded two hits and two runs in her four attempts from the plate.

Game 2: Despite the close score line from game one, game two ended after five innings as North Central couldn't stop the Knights offense in the bottom of the second innings in which the Knights scored 10 runs. Martin Luther never relinquished the lead after that adding four more runs between the bottom of the third and fourth innings. The Rams did earn back a run from the Knights in the top of the third inning when Amanda Roth homered deep to left center for her third home run of the season. All three of North Central's outs were recorded in the bottom of the second during the Knights offensive showcase.

Up Next: The Rams will spend Easter Weekend traveling to Watertown, Wis. in a doubleheader battle with the Maranatha Baptist Sabercats. Friday the games are set for 5 and 7 p.m. and Saturday the doubleheader actions begins at noon with the second game slated for 2 p.m.