Thanks to Mya Lorenz for the pictures
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – North Park softball dropped their season openers in Florida on Sunday morning. The Vikings lost an extra-inning heartbreaker to St. Scholastica, 6-5, before an 8-0 loss to Wheaton (MA).
In the season opener, North Park went ahead 5-2 through the top of the fifth inning. Alli Patrick plated Alyssa Malicki with an RBI single in the second inning before Isa Santos marked the second Viking run of the game, scoring on a passed ball in the third. Next, with a tie score, Malicki cranked a two-run homer in the fifth inning. The go-ahead bomb was the 14th of Malicki's career, giving her sole possession of the all-time crown. Malicki and 2022 All-American Alyssa Aragon were previously tied at 13 homers each.
Emily Reczek plated McKenna Mendenhall on an RBI double in the same inning, but St. Scholastica would spoil the Vikings' season opener, walking off in the eighth inning.
In the Wheaton game, the Vikings suffered a two-hit loss. Those lone hits were driven by Baker and Santos while Katie Patton and Salyssa Garcia reached base with a walk.
North Park looks to bounce back with two more morning games on Monday against Gallaudet and Hamline.
