MANKATO — The phrase “never give up” couldn’t have described Teresa Samlaska and her Mankato Loyola teammates better than it did Monday afternoon.
Samlaska hit two doubles during a six-run seventh-inning rally to lead the Crusaders to a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at the Loyola field.
She led off the inning with her first hit and then gave the Crusaders their first win of the season, driving in two runs with a bases-loaded double her next time up.
“I love to do it — being down and coming back and getting the big hit,” Samlaska said. “Words can’t explain how I felt, but it was pretty good.”
Samlaska finished the Gopher Conference game 2 for 3 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs.
“I like how we came out ready to play and came back in the last inning,” coach Laura Olson said. “It’s a character builder, which is something that will help down the road.”
Emily Willaert was 2 for 4 with a pair of runs and two stolen bases, and Nicki Menke was 2 for 4 with two runs scored for Loyola.
The Crusaders appeared to have things in control early as they scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Starting pitcher Emily McCargar breezed through the first three innings, shutting out the Buccaneers.
“I thought Emily came out strong, but in the fourth inning she struggled,” Olson said. “We need our pitchers to be more consistent and reduce the number of walks.”
McCargar allowed eight runs before being pulled with two outs in the fourth inning. She finished with four hits, five strikeouts and two walks.
Megan Woodruff went the rest of the way, going 31⁄3 innings. She allowed one run on five hits, struck out four and walked one.
The Buccaneers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to take a 9-4 lead before the Crusaders rally.
Samlaska started it off with a double and was followed by a pair of singles from Menke and Clare Oberle. After an out by McCargar, four straight hits and one runner thrown out at home pulled the Crusaders within one with two outs.
A walk to Lizzy Karp loaded the bases and set up Samlaska to drive in the tying and winning runs.
Alisha Reinke took the loss for the Buccaneers. She went 62⁄3 innings, allowing 10 runs on 10 hits with 10 walks and two strikeouts. Kayla Kinniry and Chelsea Dallman each went 2 for 4 at the plate in the loss.
Loyola (1-1) plays today at Randolph in a Gopher Conference matchup.
“We’ll have to be more focused,” Samlaska said. “We need to want the ball to come to you and want to make the play.”
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