Somers, Wis. – The UW-Parkside softball left the field three outs short of a victory after a long day at the Case Softball Complex. The Rangers held a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning when game two of Tuesday's doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth was suspended due to darkness. The two teams will finish the contest beginning at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday before playing their scheduled doubleheader.
 
The back end of the twin bill was pushed into dusk thanks to a 15-inning, three-hour and 22-minute marathon opening game. The Bulldogs used a pair of 15^th inning home runs to break a scoreless tie to claim the game one win.
 
The Rangers, who were playing their first games at home this season, will look to break a losing streak by grabbing three more outs on Wednesday. Following the conclusion of Tuesday's game, the two teams will play a pair of seven-inning contests to finish their four-game series.
 
Below are recaps of Tuesday's tight contests.
 
Game One (Box Score)
The opening game was one for the ages as the Rangers and Bulldogs locked up in a true pitchers' duel for over three hours in the longest game of Coach Laura Fillipp's UW-Parkside tenure.
 
UW-Parkside's Kristin Kleinmeyer and Duluth's Megan Mullen hooked up in a classic as the hurlers matched zeroes for 14 straight innings. Each put together an impressive line but in the end the Bulldogs used a couple of long balls to break the seal.
 
Kleinmeyer pitched out of a couple of jams while keeping the Bulldogs off the board.  At one point she retired 20 out of 21 batters and held Duluth for seven innings without a hit.
 
Mullen was equally as impressive, retiring 18 of 19 early in the game, then 12 straight in extra innings, before eventually earning the complete game win with 18 strikeouts. The Rangers were unable to get more than one base runner on in an inning before the final frame.
 
She was also at the heart of the game-winning swing as she launched a two-run home run with one out in the 15^th, to give Duluth a 2-0 lead. Kierra Jeffers added one three batters later to make it 4-0.
 
Kleinmeyer finished the hard-luck defeat by going 14 2/3 innings and allowing seven hits while striking out seven.
 
The Rangers put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the 15^th when Kirsten Luevano walked and Diana Gordon singled to put two on base. Mullen came back to induce a pop-up to end the game.
 
Lauren Vitiello led the offense with a 2-for-4 day.
 
Game Two
Once again runs were at a premium as the Rangers' Kelynn Sporer and the Bulldogs' Sara Sauter put up three innings of zeroes before Parkside's offense broke through.
 
Vitiello ripped a double to the gap to start a fourth inning rally. Two batters later, Cecie Portillo pushed her to third with a base hit. Sporer helped her own cause with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
 
They added another in the fifth when Colleen Cummings came up with a clutch two-out hit to score Jessica Norton from second. That gave the Rangers a two-run cushion heading to the sixth.
 
As darkness began to set in the Bulldogs threatened to steal the lead. Two errors and a walk, combined with a wild pitch and passed ball, cut the lead to one and left two runners on base with no one out.
 
But Sporer fought back to retire the next three hitters, stranding two runners in scoring position, and keeping Parkside in front.
 
And just before the game was called, the Rangers got that run back. Portillo lined a single to center to score pinch-runner Kira Cooper. Vitiello started the inning with another double.
 
It was decided prior to the Rangers at-bat that the seventh would have to wait until Wednesday.
 
Check back on Wednesday for the results of today's game as well as the scheduled doubleheader to follow.