By John RittenhouseThe Luverne softball team posted its first victory of the season during the Martin County West Tournament in Welcome Saturday.The Cardinals went 1-1 and placed third at the tourney, losing to Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin and topping Southwest United.Luverne opened Southwest Conference play by dropping a doubleheader in Redwood Falls Thursday.The 1-5 Cards play a SWC twin bill in Marshall today.MCW tourneyThe Cardinals split games to place third during Saturday’s four-team tournament in Welcome.ML-B-O blanked the Cards 5-0 in the opener. Luverne bounced back to secure its first win of the season besting SWU 16-6 in five innings.The Cards slapped six hits without producing a run against the Wolverines in the opener. ML-B-O scored two runs in the first and sixth innings and added a single run in the third.Stacy Lorenzen tossed all six innings for LHS. She fanned eight batters while allowing five hits and five walks.No Cardinal had more than one hit in the game.After surrendering three runs in the top of the first inning to SWU in the second game, Luverne rallied to record a lopsided win by the 10-run rule.Luverne scored seven runs in each of the first and second innings before adding two more in the third to run away from SWU.Natalie Domagala belted two homers and drove in three runs with three hits in the win. Jessy Behr slapped three hits and recorded three RBIs. Taylor Nelson added three hits, Lorenzen knocked in three runs with two hits, Tori Snyder contributed two hits and two RBIs, and Jessa Dahl added two hits.Sarah Wynia started the game on the mound for LHS, but she was lifted in favor of Lorenzen after registering one out. Lorenzen tossed the next three and two-thirds innings to get the win. Snyder pitched one inning.RWV twin billThe Cardinals were unable to break into the win column when they opened SWC play with a doubleheader in Redwood Falls Thursday.Redwood Valley edged the Cards 7-5 in Game 1 before taking the finale 16-12.After falling behind 2-0 in the opener, Luverne rallied to take a 4-2 edge by scoring one run in the top of the third inning and three counters in the fourth.RWV, however, moved in front 7-4 after scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth and limited the Cards to one run the rest of the game to prevail by two.Stacy Lorenzen pitched all six innings and took the loss. She walked three batters and fanned 10.Natalie Domagala, Jessy Behr and Jessa Dahl all slapped two hits in Game 1.Luverne sported 4-3, 6-4 and 11-10 leads in Game 2 before falling by four runs at game’s end.The score was knotted at 12 when RWV scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning before blanking LHS in the bottom half of the frame to win by four.Sarah Wynia pitched two and one-third innings, Lorenzen tossed three and two-thirds frames and Tori Snyder worked one inning.Domagala was five-for-five at the plate in the finale. Behr and Taylor Nelson had three hits each, and Snyder added two safeties.
