B-E fell behind 7-1 after the first inning of the first game, but battled back to earn the win, scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning.  Sydney Schaefer (2-3, 2R, RBI), Bailey Schaefer (1-4, 3B, R), Mikenna Pattrin (1-3, 2R, 2 RBI) and Kiley Lund (1-4, 2 RBI) led the way at the plate.  Pattrin (7IP, 6H, 8R, 1ER, 5BB, 7K) picked up the win in the circle.

“We dug ourselves an early hole in the opening game, but were able to clean things up in the field and stay aggressive on the bases to come back and take the game,” noted Head Coach Kasi Sieling.  “Our batters did a nice job of hitting the ball hard and taking advantage of miscues on the bases to bring girls in.  Mikenna threw well and the defense was able to work out of situations and come away with the win in our conference opener.”

The Chargers were held to just three hits in game two as Pattrin, Bailey Schaefer and Sydney Schaefer were all 1-for-3 at the plate.  Each of them scored a run and Pattrin had a run batted in.  After B-E scored 3 in the first, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross had a 5-run third inning to take the lead for good.  Bailey Schaefer (5IP, 6H, 6R, 1ER, 4BB, 3K) took the loss and five Brandon-Evansville errors led to five unearned runs for the Warriors.

“We jumped out to an early lead but a third inning full of defensive mistakes cost us this game,” reported Sieling.  “It is difficult to win games when we give teams extra outs in innings.  Bailey threw a solid game, but we just weren’t able to make the plays behind her.  Offensively, our bats were about as cold as the temperatures and we struggled to really find our groove and get anything going.  Wheaton was a tough team and hit the ball hard in both games to really put the pressure on us.”

Brandon-Evansville will host Rothsay at 5:00pm Friday in another conference double header.