Peoria, IL- The Mount Mary softball team opened their season at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois on February 22nd and 23rd.  The Blue Angels played four games over the two day event, the highlight being a late inning rally to claim a victory over the Prairie Fire of Knox College.

In Thursday's evening's contest against Knox, the Blue Angels used a five run top of the third inning to shoot out to a 5-2 lead.  A three run triple by Brianna Ecker and an rbi single by Jodie Penman highlighted the rally.  Penman had an outstanding debut for Mount Mary over the four games, with 5 hits and 4 runs batted in over 10 at bats.

Knox tied the game in the bottom of the third and the game would stay even until the top of the 7th inning.  Penman again was clutch for the Blue Angels, her two run double in the 7th proved to be the game's crucial hit.  It gave MMU a 7-5 lead that they would hold for the victory.  Mary DeFore picked up the win in the pitching circle, allowing one run over four innings of work.  DeFore also provided a spark on the offensive side with two runs scored.  In addition to Ecker and Penman, Aliana Gutierrez and Crystal Peterson shone brightly on offense with two hits each.

Prior to the win over Knox, Mount Mary opened the season against the Duhawks of Loras College.  The game looked promising in the top of the third, when MMU shot out to a 2-0 lead.  It would be all Loras from that point forward, the Duhawks began to dominate on offense and won the game by a 10-2 final.

Friday, February 23rd, saw MMU take on two more quality opponents.  The day's first game saw the pitching staff of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville hold the Blue Angels at bay for a 7-0 win.  In the second contest of the day, the Blue Jays of Elmhurst University exploded out of the gate, scoring 9 runs in the game's first three innings.  The Mount Mary team would not give up, but could not stage a big enough rally and fell by a 13-4 final score.  Penman was once again the offensive star for MMU, she went three for four on the game, with two runs scored and one run batted in.  DeFore stayed hot in the final game, with a 2-5 day at the plate.

Reflecting on the start of the season, Head Coach Perry Clark had this to say, "While the results of the games were not what we hoped for, these early games provided us with information about areas in which we need to improve.  While we struggled at the plate and certainly need to make adjustments in our apporach, I was pleased to see several of our young players step up to the challenge and play well over the four games."

One of the young players who showed great promise was Aliana Gutierrez, she was 4-13 in the four games, with 2 runs batted in and a stolen base.  Crystal Peterson was 3-10 and with two walks drawn and two stolen bases.

Mount Mary (1-3) will now have a week off from game action as they prepare for their Spring trip to Tucson, Arizona.  Between Sunday, March 3rd and Saturday, March 9th, the Blue Angels will play 10 games against various opponents.  Their first game will be Sunday, March 3rd at 10 AM (Central Time) against the University of Puget Sound.  All coverage of Mount Mary softball can be found here on www.mtmaryathletics.com