by Eva Dean Folkert

Eight runs per game, with one big inning in each, were the macro and micro ingredients that propelled the Hope College softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Saint Mary's College on Monday.

The Flying Dutch won the opener, 8-3, courtesy of a five-run fourth inning, and then claimed the second game, 8-6, thanks to a four-run sixth inning.

Both wins count in the MIAA standings and move Hope's record to 11-1 in the league, good for second place. The Flying Dutch have a 20-8 overall record. Saint Mary's falls to .500 in the MIAA with a 6-6 record while being 11-13 overall.

Flying Dutch home runs keyed big moments in each game, especially in Game 2.

Junior third baseman Bre Nolan (Metamora, Mich./Lapeer HS), pictured right, cracked two homers to left field, one in the second inning and one in the fourth, and accounted for three RBIs in the nightcap. 

Senior catcher Morgann Kanouse (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS), pictured left, also added two more RBIs off of her own home run to left in the fifth inning to make the score, 8-2.

Those were the first home runs of the season for Nolan and Kanouse.

But then Saint Mary's bats started to ring, too. After scoring a single run early in the sixth, the Belles' Libby Bierbaum clubbed a three-run round-tripper, and the heat was on.

But freshman Alaina (Adams Oak Creek, Wisc./St. Thomas More HS) came in to relieve starter Avery Slancik (Scotts, Mich./Vicksburg HS) and shut down the Belles the rest of the way to the game's 8-6 conclusion.

Slancik (7-1) claimed the win on 5 1/3 innings of work that saw her strike out three, walk one, and give up eight hits and six runs. Her ERA is an impressive 1.90.

Adams got her first save of the season.

Hope scattered 11 hits for its eight runs in Game 2, and collecting two hits each were Kanouse, Nolan, sophomore right fielder Cayley Ebeling (Shelby Township, Mich./Utica HS), and junior second baseman Arinn King (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS).

In Game 1, the Flying Dutch scored their first run in the second inning on a solo home run by sophomore designated player Haley Bennett, pictured left, of Livonia, Michigan (Benjamin Franklin HS).

In that five-run fourth inning, Megan Soderbloom got Hope's scoring going with a double that scored Kaelin Callow. Singles by Nolan and Ebeling brought two more runs in and then a double by King scored Ebeling and freshman pinch runner Kate Martin (Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall HS) for the final two runs of the inning.

King leads Hope with 12 doubles while Soderbloom is close behind with 11.

Senior pitcher Soderbloom (7-3) of Dowagiac, Michigan (Dowagiac HS) earned the win. She struck out six while allowing eight hits and three runs for five innings. Soderbloom has a solid 2.97 ERA on the season.

Slancik finished that final two innings, blanking the Belles on hits and runs. 

The Flying Dutch are on the road again on Wednesday, April 28 to Albion College for another league doubleheader. First pitch is 3 p.m.