Thursday evening, the Tri-City United softball team traveled to neighboring Le Sueur-Henderson for a Minnesota River Conference doubleheader against the Giants. The teams combined to score 46 runs over the two games, but it was LS-H that pulled out the win both times, taking game one 17-12 before taking game tow 10-7.
With the losses, TCU falls to 0-6 to start the season despite some promising offensive showings.
Game one saw the Giants strike first with eight runs in the bottom of the first after their hitters found open spots in the defense, putting the Titans on their back feet from the start.
TCU began to chip away into the deficit in the top of the second after Avery Lerfald led off with a single to center followed by an RBI double from Adison Schroer. With two outs in the second, Morgan Fredrickson initiated a double steal from first which allowed Sophie Whipps to score from third during the confusion on defense.
The Giants added two runs in the bottom of the second but the Titans had a response in the top of the third when Cristina Cruz crushed a no-doubt two-run homer to centerfield. In the top of the fourth, TCU cut the deficit to 12-7 after a Lerfeld double scored Lexi Factor and Cruz, but LS-H pulled further ahead with a three-run homer from Victoria Hutton.
A handful of runs were scored in the final innings but the Titans could never again get within five runs.
Lerfald went 5-5 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored while Morgan Fredrickson and Factor each added three hits.
Game two saw TCU play as the home team on the scoreboard, and in the top of the first, LS-H scored a trio of runs to take the early lead once again. In the bottom of the first, Cruz smashed her second homer of the day, another two-run blast, to centerfield.
In the bottom of the second, the Titans tied the game 3-3 when Sophie Whipps singled a ball to third that resulted in a throwing error that allowed Fredrickson to score. Whipps was then brought home after a double to center from Alison Weydert. TCU increased its lead to 6-3 with a Cruz RBI single that scored Factor who had reached third on a wild pitch.
LS-H cut the Titan lead to two when Bailey Lehman hit a leadoff homer in the top of the third but TCU pushed it back to three in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Whipps that scored Fredrickson.
The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth when the Giants scored five runs to take a 9-7 lead and in the top of the seventh, they pushed the lead to 10-7. The Titans, needing three runs to stay alive, went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, resulting in the 10-7 loss.
Cruz and Whipps each finished the game with a pair of hits for TCU.
The Titans are scheduled to return to action Monday, April 29, when they will host Loyola after the game was postponed Friday due to rain. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
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