CLERMONT, Fla. – North Park softball split another pair of games on Tuesday afternoon in central Florida, falling to the Utica Pioneers 8-7 before beating the Ripon Red Hawks 7-2.
Game 1: Utica 8, North Park 7
Against Utica, sophomore starter Maya Lafnear blanked the Pioneers in the opening frame before the Vikings tacked on two runs in their first trip to the plate. Senior right fielder Isa Santos dropped down a bunt single before sophomore shortstop Kayla Lorenz cleared the fence by plenty, securing her first homer of 2024 with a two-run shot.
The Vikings added another run in the third inning on sophomore third baseman Salyssa Garcia brought Santos home on an oppo single to right field.
After navigating three scoreless innings, Utica would take advantage of a pair of errors in the fourth, scoring three runs off of just two hits to tie the game, 3-3. The Pioneers cracked six hits in the fifth, extending their lead to 8-3.
The Vikings briefly mounted a comeback in the bottom of five, also having some infield errors work in their favor. The Vikings drew four walks and scored three runs without a hit, closing the gap to 8-6.
Meanwhile, freshman Gabby Gonzalez-Villegas relieved Lafnear, working 2.1 innings of near perfect relief, surrendering just one walk.
North Park tacked on one more run when sophomore first baseman Kathryn Keehn singled home Lorenz on a run-scoring drive to center, but an 8-7 game is as close as the Vikings got.
- Lafnear goes 4.2 innings without an earned run
- Gonzalez-Villegas with 2.1 innings of hitless, scoreless relief
- Garcia 2-for-3 with an RBI
- Senior center fielder Kalya Sapolu was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk
- Lorenz 1-for-2 with a two-run homer
- Santos scores three times
Game 2: North Park 7, Ripon 2
The Vikings go back to .500 against the Red Hawks.
Ripon was first on the board after a bases loaded walk scored Vargas before Hablewitz followed with an RBI single to left. After a scoreless second inning by pitchers Pahan and sophomore Eden Baker, North Park tied things up in the third thanks to a sac fly by Santos, and an RBI single by Lorenz.
Baker spun another scoreless inning before Sapolu's leadoff triple in the fourth allowed Keehn to double her home with a drive to the right-center field gap. The Vikings tacked on four more runs in the fifth on an RBI single from Garcia, sac flys by Sapolu and sophomore outfielder Sydney Snyder, and a throwing error on the Red Hawks' outfield.
After the first-inning runs, Baker would scatter just six hits over the next six innings of scoreless work in the circle, securing her second win of the season.
- Second win for Baker in as many days – 7 IP, 4 K's, 1 ER
- Also 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored
- Baker becomes seventh Viking ever to steal two bases in game
- Keehn 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles
- Sapolu cracks a triple and Garcia drives in a pair of runners
North Park (2-2) steps away from Legends Way Ballfields for the first and only time this spring break trip to face Gettysburg College on Wednesday, March 13. First pitch at Hancock Park is set for 10:00 AM ET.
