DE PERE – St. Norbert College celebrated head softball coach JoAnn Krueger (pictured) in her final home doubleheader at Miron Construction Field this afternoon, celebrating 27 years of dedication and excellence as the leader of Green Knight softball.
Krueger, who will retire at the end of the campaign later this week, was celebrated by staff, alumni and student-athletes before first pitch, with athletics director Cam Fuller presenting a plaque to the tenured coach.
The Green Knights fell by scores of 6-3 and 6-5 to Milwaukee School of Engineering in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader, in what turned out to be two entertaining contests to close out the Krueger era in De Pere.
St. Norbert (9-29, 8-14 NACC) made the Raiders earn two tough wins, with the Green Knights holding a lead going into the seventh inning of game two before two runs earned MSOE a sweep.
Trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, St. Norbert got on the board thanks to a Zoe Zasada RBI double to score Sophia Nieckula. Avia Champeau scored a second run in the inning after a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. An Ava Engwall home run pulled the score back to a 5-3 Raiders lead before MSOE added one more run in the seventh to win 6-3.
Engwall and Morgan Hansel both had two hits. Bailie Thielen took the loss, pitching five innings and allowing seven hits and five runs with one strikeout and walk.
Trailing 2-0 in the first inning, the Green Knights tied the second game in the bottom of the inning thanks to a second home run of the day from Engwall. Grendel Sprong tied the game a 3-3 in the second with an RBI single, while Addison Race tied the game for a third time as the Green Knights were again deadlocked at 4-4. An Engwall double gave St. Norbert its first lead of the afternoon in the sixth, as the Green Knights led 5-4. MSOE however found a way in the seventh and stole a late win 6-5 in the final home game of the year.
Engwall finished with three hits, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Allison Ardito, Karleigh Linssen and Hansel finished with two hits. Addison Maurer took the loss, pitching 6 1/3 innings, finishing with three strikeouts.
