The Aurora University softball team pleayed host to the No. 24 ranked Flying Dutch of Hope College in a non-conference match-up Tuesday afternoon. The Spartans split the doubleheader, winning game two in dramatic walk-off fashion 3-2 after falling in game one 6-2.

Game One
Hope 6 Aurora 2
AU fell behind in the first inning to Hope and though the Spartan offense put some pressure on Hope in the first six innings, they could not manage to get a run to cross the plate. AU left six runners on, two each in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Hope added runs in the fourth and sixth to take a 6-0 lead into the seventh.

The Spartans mounted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, mostly coming with two outs. Madie Polden and Lauren Huebner each reached and eventually scored. After Larkin Lagnston, Logan Cahill and Steph Starr all singled which loaded the bases, the tying run stepped to the plate in Aime Raynor. Raynor hit a deep fly ball to left field but did not quite get enough as the game ended on the catch.

Game Two
Aurora 3  Hope 2
The second game turned out to be a pitchers dual as the teams combined for one run over the first five innings, a home run from AU freshman Larkin Langston in the fourth. Spartan starting pitcher Natalie Zanella kept the Hope offense off balance, allowing just one hit over the first five innings.

Hope would get two hits in the sixth inning but Zanella left the bases loaded by getting a pop up to Raynor in right to end the threat. AU then answered with a run as Mandey Shrader led off with a single and later scored on a Langston double.

Leading by two in the seventh, AU went up against a determined Hope team that showed why they came in with a national ranking. Like the Spartans had done in the sixth, the run scoring came with two outs. A two out triple scored one run and an infield error allowed the tying run to score. After Hope again loaded the bases, Zanella got a fly out to short left to end the threat and let the Spartan offense come to hit.

With one out, the AU late game heroics came to life again with senior Vanessa Wegner doing the honors. Wegner deposited a rocket over the left center field fence for the game winning walk-off home run and a 3-2 AU win.

With the split, AU is now 22-4 overall. Next action for the Spartan softball team comes on Thursday, April 16, 2015 when they host University of Chicago in a non-conference doubleheader. Game one is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery, Illinois.