The Hope College softball team flipped the script to finish out the day on a winning note against the Belles of Saint Mary's College on Wednesday.

The Flying Dutch took a tough 5-2 loss in game one at Wolters Softball Stadium but wrote a different narrative in game two, unleashing an offensive surge to claim an 11-4 victory.

The series split kept Hope in fifth place in the MIAA standings with a 7-7 league record (19-15 overall). 

The Flying Dutch one regular season doubleheader remaining against Calvin University on Saturday, May 3, at 1 p.m. at home. The Knights are tied for third place in the MIAA standings with Kalamazoo College after a doubleheader sweep by Alma College dropped Calvin to 9-5 in league play.

In game two, the Orange and Blue responded emphatically after falling behind 2-1 in the second inning, plating 10 unanswered runs over five frames. Senior Mady Pahl (Beaverton, Michigan / Beaverton HS), junior Gianna Kerschbaum (Baroda, Michigan / Stevensville-Lakeshore), freshman Mia Vanderheide (Caledonia, Michigan / Jenison International, and junior Kate DeMann (Byron Center, Michigan / South Christian) each tallied three hits, with Kerschbaum's fifth-inning RBI triple serving as a momentum-shifter. 

Sophomore Maya Holser (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Central) sealed the deal with a two-RBI single in the seventh.

In the circle, sophomore Hailey Mellec (Commerce Township, Michigan / Walled Lake Northern) pitched six solid innings, allowing just six hits while recording four strikeouts before senior Grace Connelly (Grandville, Michigan / Grandville) closed things out in relief.

In game one, the Flying Dutch kept pace offensively, collecting seven hits—led by sophomore Terin Maynard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Jenison) with two.

Saint Mary's (9-19, 3-11) took control in the fifth inning with a three-run triple.

Hope clawed back in the sixth when sophomore Sophie Stironek's (Lake Orion, Michigan / Lake Orion) single plated Maynard and Kerschbaum drove in Pahl, cutting the deficit to one. However, Saint Mary's added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh, securing the win.

Kerschbaum was in the circle for Hope, tossing seven innings while allowing eight hits.