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University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

Alyssa Gietl
Tim Busch
Alyssa Gietl had a two-run single in game two.

Softball

Valpo Takes League Openers

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BOX SCORES
Game 1: Valpo 7, Detroit 2
Game 2: Valpo 12, Detroit 3

DETROIT, Mich.-- Valparaiso used late-inning runs to get past host Detroit in a Horizon League-opening doubleheader Saturday at Buysse Ballpark.  The Crusaders scored five runs in the final two innings to take the opener, 7-2 and followed with a big final inning to take the second game, 12-3.

GAME ONE
The opener was tight until the final inning.  Detroit (7-16, 0-2 HL) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on Sara Cupp's two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning.  After Rachel Copple coaxed  a one-out walk, Cupp smashed the first pitch she saw over the right field wall for her third dinger of the season.

Valpo (16-9, 2-0) got a run in the second and another in the fourth to knot the score at 2-all.  The key inning would be the sixth, where four straight Crusaders reached base and Jordan Rutkowski's ninth homerun of the year staked Valpo to a 5-2 advantage. 

Valparaiso got two insurance runs in the seventh inning and stranded a pair of Titans in scoring position in the bottom of the frame to earn the win. 

Julia Maksym threw five innings, allowing four earned runs and scattering nine hits.  Alex LeGesse picked-up the win, holding the Titans off  the board following Cupp's homer for her seventh win of the year.

GAME TWO
Valpo got a run in the top of the first and made it hold up until the fourth when it added another run and two more in the sixth.  Heading into the final inning, it was a 4-0 game but the seventh would prove to be the difference.

The Crusaders posted eight runs in the frame to lead 12-0.  The Titans did not give up, however, batting around in their half of the inning and chasing starter Sam McGee from the game.  Detroit tagged her for four hits and three runs in the inning and had the bases loaded when Shaleigh Jansen came in to record the final out.

Alyssa Gietl had a two-run single in the inning while Vanessa Garcia, Sam Henderson and Dani Holmes all scored.  Karyn McCarty threw 6.1 innings and struck out four, allowing five runs.

Detroit and Valpo close-out the three-game series Sunday at Buysse Ballpark with a single game beginning at noon.

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