The Emporia State softball team dropped two Saturday at the Mankato Dome Tournament.
In their first game of the day, Concordia-St. Paul scored seven runs in the first inning on the way to an 8-2 win. Emporia State gave up six hits and two walks in the first to the Golden Bears and were never able to make a comeback. ESU scored on a sacrifice bunt in the fifth and an RBI double in the sixth by Alexis Dial. Dial finished 2-for-3 in the game. Josie Harrison (0-1) lasted just 0.2 innings and allowed five hits and seven runs in the first to take the loss. Gracie Rabe went 5.1 innings in relief and allowed just one run the rest of the way.
In game two, E-State fell in a pitching duel 2-1 against Minnesota State. Abbey Ward led the game off with a double and was driven in by Dial on a sacrifice fly. The Mavericks tied the game in the bottom of the second, but ESU starter Jayda VanAckeren limited the Minnesota State to just two hits in their next three innings at the plate. A leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth turned into a run for the Mavericks after two groundouts to put them up 2-1. ESU went down in order in the seventh to end the game. VanAckeren (0-2) took the hard-luck loss pitching 6.0 innings and allowing five hits and two runs in the complete game effort. The Lady Hornets were limited to just three hits in the game. The loss dropped Emporia State to 0-4 to begin the year.
ESU returns to action to wrap up the tournament with two games Sunday.
