AUBURNDALE, Fla. - St. Norbert College opened its season with a pair of wins as it began its annual Spring Break trip to Florida, picking up a 9-2 win over Lasell University and a 7-6 walkoff victory over Nichols College.
The Green Knights are off to their first 2-0 start since 1997 with the wins, which included a late rally over Nichols.
St. Norbert trailed Nichols 6-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Allison Ardito plated a pair of runs to bring the Green Knights to within 6-5, but they would leave two runners on. St. Norbert then mounted another rally in the bottom of the seventh, as
Christina Paleka drew a one-out walk and
Zoe Zasada followed with a single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Meghan Gonnering walked to load the bases, and
Ava Engwall then singled to left-center to bring Paleka and Zasada around with the game-winning runs.
Nichols had built a 2-0 lead with a pair of second-inning runs, but the Green Knights countered with three runs in the bottom of the second.
Meredith Manke's single brought in two runs and a third run scored on the play on an error. The Bison would retake the lead with four runs in the third inning.
Bailie Thielen got the win in relief, allowing just one hit and two walks with one strikeout in four innings pitched. Ardito, Zasada, Manke and Haase all had two hits apiece for St. Norbert, which had 13 hits.
Against Lasell, St. Norbert took a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first.
Paige Diercks had an RBI single and Paleka followed with an RBI double. Lasell would get a run in the second, but the Green Knights responded with three runs in the third. Paleka drove in a pair of runs with a double, while Engwall plated a run with a single. The Lasers would cut the deficit to 5-2 with a run in the fourth inning.
St. Norbert salted the game away with four runs in the sixth inning. Diercks drove in two runs with a single and a third scored on an errors.
Megan Guckeen brought in the final run on a sacrifice fly.
Addison Race got the win with a complete-game performance in her collegiate debut, scattering eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts. St. Norbert had 13 hits in the game, with Diercks going 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. Haase was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Paleka was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI.
