CHICAGO – In its home opener on Thursday afternoon, the University of Chicago softball team secured an 8-0 win and a 4-4 tie against Hope College.

The Maroons improved to 9-4-1 on the season while the Flying Dutch dropped to 12-8-1.

Game One – UChicago 8, Hope 0  (5 innings)

UChicago broke out with a five-run third inning to seize control. With the bases loaded, Olivia Cataldo plated all three runners with a triple to the gap in right center. Paige Zvokel made it 5-0 later in the frame with a two-run double to left.

The hosts added one run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to end the game early via run rule. An error in the outfield scored Julia Folkl from second base, Madeline Murphy recorded an RBI groundout and Laila Sims concluded the game with an RBI squeeze bunt.

UChicago racked up 12 hits and one error. Zvokel was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI. Ava Sinai and Folkl each batted 2-for-3. Sims went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one stolen base.

Starting pitcher Paige Heffke (5-2 record) had no problems with the Hope batters. The sophomore righty only allowed one hit and one walk in the five-inning shutout. She also struck out five.

Game Two – UChicago 4, Hope 4  (9 innings)

After a rapid first game, the second game stretched to over twice that time length. The teams were knotted at 4-4 and proceeded into extra frames. After nine full innings, the game was called due to darkness and officially ended in a tie.

The third inning proved fruitful again for the home team, as Zvokel scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Hope scored two in the top of the fifth, but the Maroons answered back with three in the bottom of the frame. Sims knocked an RBI single through the left side and Folkl cracked a two-run single down the left field line to put the Maroons ahead 4-2.

The Flying Dutch finally drew within 4-3 on a double steal, then tied it on a two-out RBI single up the middle in the top of the sixth. The two sides put up zeros on the scoreboard the rest of the way.

In the final box score, UChicago posted seven hits, four steals and two errors. Folkl hit 3-for-4 with two RBI and one steal. Sims batted 2-for-5, and Nicole Wong tallied two walks and two steals.

Delaney Romanchick started the opening four innings and allowed two runs with three strikeouts. Delaney Choi surrendered two runs in 1.1 innings of relief. Heffke tossed the final 3.2 innings with five strikeouts.

NEXT GAMES:

• Saturday, Apr. 8 @ 1:00 PM – UChicago at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (DH)