KISSIMMEE, Fla.—Mount Union's softball team earned its first win of the season after splitting its two games on Monday. After falling to Aurora (Ill.) 5-4 in their first contest of the day, the Purple Raiders (1-3) rallied for a 6-2 victory over Albion (Mich.) in Rebel Spring Games action at the Osceola County Softball Complex.

In the first game of the day against Aurora, the Purple Raiders trailed 6-4 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Brittany Papp (Uniontown/Green) singled, scoring Keilah Capriola (Akron/Coventry), and making it 6-5 with no outs. After loading the bases with two outs, the Raiders flied out to center field to end the game.

Papp had two hits and three RBI to lead Mount Union.

Bre Willis (Navarre/Fairless) got the start inside the pitcher's circle for the Raiders. Willis threw a complette game and had three strikeouts.

A six-run sixth inning gave the Raiders a comeback victory over the Brits. Junior Rachel McAninch (West Jefferson/West Jefferson) earned the victory for the Raiders.

Brittany Papp put the Raiders on the scoreboard on a single that scored Kaylah Nieschwitz (Canton/St. Thomas Aquinas), who had reached on a walk to lead-off the inning and advanced to second on a sac bunt.  

A ball off the bat of Shelby Carmichael (Dalton/Dalton) resulted in a fielding error by Albion's third baseman, scoring Krista Leighty (Wooster/Triway), who came into the game to run for Papp, to tie the game. Carmichael, however, was thrown out attempting to advance to second on the play.

A single by Brenna Longo (Moon, Pa./Moon) was followed by a walk by Hannah Kopack (Westlake/Westlake). Longo scored and Kopack advanced to third on a single down the right field line by Keilah Capriola to take a 3-2 lead.

A base-clearing double by Marissa Earl (Massillon/Washington) broke the game open, scoring Kopack and Capriola. Kristen Gromes (Navarre/Fairless) followed with a triple, scoring Earl to cap the Raider scoring.

That is all of the help McAninch would need, as Albion, who scored a run in the second and third innings to take an early 2-0 lead, managed just two hits the rest of the game.

After loading the bases on a walk and a pair of errors in the final inning, McAninch struck out the an Albion batter to end the game. McAninch finished with four strikeouts and allowed just a single earned run in her first complete game of the season.

The Raiders (1-3) will be in action again on Tuesday with a pair of games against Methodist (N.C.) and Emmanuel (Mass.) at Oren Brown Park in Kissimmee, Florida. The first game is scheduled for 11 am, followed by the second game at 1 pm.

Aurora (Ill.) 6, Mount Union 5
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Aurora (Ill.)...... 100 050 0 – 6 14 1 (3-1)
Mount Union......... 003 010 1 - 5 9 4 (0-3)
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Pitchers: Mount Union – Bre Willis and Brittany Papp. Aurora (Ill.) - Hope Webster;
Win- Hope Webster  Loss- Bre Willis (0-2)

Mount Union 6, Albion (Mich.) 2
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Mount Union......... 000 006 0 -  6  7  4      (1-3)
Albion (Mich.)...... 011 000 0 -  2  7  1      (1-4)
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Pitchers: Mount Union - Rachel McAninch and Brittany Papp. Albion (Mich.) - Kaitlyn Downey;
Erin Giannotta(6) and Claire Cannon.
Win-Rachel McAninch(1-1)  Loss-Kaitlyn Downey(0-3)  T-1:47  A-27
Weather: Sunny; 72F; wind: N at 7 mph