The Northland College Softball team fell in a non-conference doubleheader at Macalester College Sunday.  The LumberJills dropped the first game 12-5 and the second 8-7 in eight innings.
                                          
In the opener the Scots jumped out to an early lead scoring four runs in both the first and second innings.  The LumberJills climbed back into the game with the use of the long ball.  Averi Kanyuh (Fr., Rapid River, Mich.) got Northland on the board with a solo home run to lead off the top of the second.  Kaitlyn Witthun (So., Cambria, Wis.) led off the third with a solo shot of her own.  In the third inning Brigid Reina (Jr., XX, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single, following a fielder's choice by Erin Gilligan (Fr., Oconto Falls, Wis.) and a hit by pitch by Kelsey Bodart (Fr., Oconto, Wis.), Witthun hit her second home run in as many at bats to pull the Jills within three 8-5.  That was as close as the Jills would come as Macalester added a run in the fifth and three in the sixth.  Kanyuh led the Jills with four hits while Witthun and Reina each had a pair.
 
The second game started much like the first as Macalester scored four runs in the first inning to take an early lead.  They added to their lead with a solo home run in the second to make it 5-0.  The score stayed that way until the sixth inning when the Jills pulled within one scoring four fueled by doubles from Briana Tody (Fr., Ashland, Wis.) and Jayna Loy (Sr., Ontario, Calif.) and a triple by Cassie Baumgarten (So., Becker, Minn.).  After giving up two in the bottom of the frame, Northland rallied with two outs, scoring three to tie the game at seven.  Carolyn Malecha (Jr., Henderson Minn.) started the rally with a pinch hit single.  After holding the Scots scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, the Jills weren't able to score in the top of the eighth and gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to take the hard luck loss.  Loy and Tody led Northland with a pair of hits each.
 
"I was really happy with the way we hit the ball today."  Said Head Coach Steve Wammer, "I know we will be a good offensive team, but we really didn't show that in Florida.  Macalester is a good team and we hit the ball really well.  This makes us optimistic about the start of conference play."
 
The LumberJills are back in action on Saturday at the UMAC Crossover in Vadnais Heights, Minn.