LARSEN HAS GRAND FRIDAY AS PIPERS DEFEAT COBBERS

Sophomore Heidi Larsen (Andover, Minn.) used her first home run of the year to drive in four runs as the Hamline University softball team swept Concordia College, 6-2 and 5-3, on Good Friday in Saint Paul.

In the opening game of the twin bill, Concordia put a run on the board in the top of the second and again in the top of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. The Pipers cut the lead to one when they hit three singles in the bottom of the fourth.

Hamline had the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth with two outs with a dropped pop-up kept the Pipers alive and allowed pinch runner Cortney Bailey (So., Blooming Prairie, Minn.) to score. Larsen then stepped to the plate with the scored tied at 2-2 and blasted a grand slam over the left field fence for the 6-2 Piper advantage.

Ashley Anderberg (Jr., Circle Pines, Minn.) was 3-for-3 at the plate in the opener.

Jessalyn Weaver (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) earned the complete-game win for the Pipers on the rubber, striking out six and walking one as she improved to 8-3. Kesley Jones (Fy., Billings, Mont.) struck eight as she took the loss for the Cobbers.

In game two, the Cobbers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the third before the Pipers put four runs on the board on four hits. Mixed in with those hits was an RBI-single by Grace Weinreich (Sr., Wahkon, Minn.) and a three-run home run by Erin Farley (So., Saint Paul, Minn.).

The Cobbers scored two more runs in the fifth, answered by the Pipers with another of their own in the bottom of the inning on a hit and an error for the 5-3 win.

Larsen went 2-for-3 in the second game with a pair of singles while Sophie Davidson (Jr., Saint Paul, Minn.) was 2-for-4.

With the pair of wins, the Pipers improve to 15-5, 8-2 MIAC. The Cobbers fall to 5-13, 0-4 MIAC. The Pipers will next host UW-Stout in a non-conference double-header at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 13.