Tempe, Ariz. (February 26, 2016)—The Mount St. Mary's opened the 2016 softball season with a pair of games on Friday at the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by Arizona State.  The Mount dropped the opener, 3-0, in a hard-fought game, before falling to No. 21/22 Minnesota in a high-scoring affair.

HOUSTON 3, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 0

The Mount opened the 2016 with a 3-0 loss to Houston in the first game of the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by Arizona State on Friday afternoon.

Junior pitcher Sam Lichtner had a solid outing in her season debut, allowing three runs (two earned) in six innings of work.  Lichtner struck out three in the game.  Erin Sweeney pitched a scoreless seventh for the Mountaineers.

Houston (7-5) took the lead in the top of the second inning when Maya Thomas hit an inside-the-park home run that scored Brooke Vannoy.  The Cougars added an unearned run in the sixth when Vannoy doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on a Mount error.

Offensively, the Mount recorded eight hits against Houston pitcher Shelby Miller, but was unable to score in the game.

The Mountaineers (0-1) had runners on first and second in the bottom of the second after singles from Marian Ruf and Marisa Mayes, but Miller was able to escape the jam with a pair of groundouts.  Mount St. Mary's had runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth after Morgan Alisauckas and Megan Baker each singled, but Miller was able to retire Rachel Heinze on a flyout to right to end the frame.

The Mount looked to rally in the seventh putting runners on first and second on singles by Alisauckas and Jessica Greenewald.  Miller, however, got the final two batters to earn the shutout.

Alisauckas went 2-for-3 at the plate while Greenewald was 2-for-4 in the game. 

No. 21/22 MINNESOTA 12, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 7

In the second game of the day, the Mount battled No. 21/22 Minnesota tough before falling by the score of 12-7.  The Golden Gophers took advantage of three wild pitches in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead before adding an RBI single by Samantha Parlich in the second.

The Mount stormed back with a four-run third to even the score.  Rachel Heinze gave the Mount offense the lift when she belted a two-run home run to cut the gap to 4-2.  Rachel Gavigan's RBI single made it a one-run game, and Marian Ruf singled home Gavigan with the tying run.

The lead was short-lived as Minnesota scored three times in the bottom of the third on a pair of passed balls.

Again, the Mountaineers fought back, scoring three times in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-7 game.   Heinze's RBI single with the bases loaded started the rally.  Morgan Alisauckas had an RBI fielder's choice, and Gavigan then tied the game with a single that plated Megan Baker.

The Golden Gophers regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a Maddie Houlihan grand slam.  They added to the lead with an unearned run in the fifth on a Mount error on a stolen base attempt.

Gavigan went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Mount in the game while Rachel Heinze was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and Jessica Greenewald 2-for-4.

The Mount continues the tournament tomorrow against Houston at 5:00 p.m. and Arizona State at 10:00 p.m.