BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Toledo softball team opened day two of the Blazer Classic with an 8-3 victory over North Dakota before falling to Murray State by a 7-1 margin.

In the morning game against North Dakota, Toledo was down two runs going into the top of the third when senior Dayna Denner drove in the first Rocket run on an RBI single to center field. Two batters later, sophomore Jenna Kroll tripled into center field to bring around two more runs and give the Rockets a 3-2 lead. North Dakota tied the game 3-3 in the fourth, but the Rockets answered with two runs in the sixth inning to take back the lead and make the score 5-3. In the top of the seventh, with one batter on base and no outs, Kroll crushed her third home run of the season to extend the Rockets' lead 7-3. Aubrey Reed followed that up with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball, and stole home to score the final run in Toledo's 8-3 win.

"Makenna Durieux came out and just gutted out a great performance this morning," head coach Joe Abraham said. "She started slow with a couple of walks that led to two runs, but settled down and won us a game. It's probably not a coincidence that our bats came alive in the same game. Lexi Eckman,  Aleah Marra and Jenna Kroll all had great games at the plate. We needed that game to show us what we can do and after our rough day yesterday."

In the second game of the day, Murray State took a two-run lead into the third inning when Kroll brought around the Rockets' lead runner on an RBI double to make the score 2-1. The Racers answered the Rockets with one run in the third to keep their two-run lead, and added three more runs in the fifth to make it 6-1. The Racers reached home on an error in the fifth to make the final score 7-1.

"We played a solid defensive game, but just didn't get the offense we needed," Abraham said. "We have some people banged up and are limiting playing time here and there because of it. When we do that, it takes some of our best bats out of the lineup which makes it tougher to score runs, but it's giving different people some opportunities, which will help us in the long run. We'll keep mixing up the lineup here and there until we get healthy and see who is going to get the bulk of the playing time."

Senior Makenna Durieux pitched a complete game and picked up the win against North Dakota. Kroll paced the offense with a home run, a double, a triple and five RBIs through both games. Reed and Eckman had two stolen bases each.

Toledo (3-6) will close out the Blazer Classic with North Dakota tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.

GAME 1 – Toledo 8, North Dakota 3

• North Dakota scored two runs in the opening inning off an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.
• Lexi Eckman scored the first run for the Rockets 2-1 in the third on an RBI single into center field from Dayna Denner.
• Jenna Kroll drove in two more runs on a triple to center field to put the Rockets ahead 3-2 in the third.
• North Dakota scored off a sacrifice fly to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
• Macey Moore scored  on a double from Sidney Griffith to take the lead 4-3 in the sixth.
• The next at-bat, Eckman scored on an RBI double to left field from Leah Munson to extend the Rockets' lead 5-3.
• Kroll crushed a two-run homer to extend the Rockets' lead 7-3 with no outs in at the top of the seventh.
• Aubrey Reed stole home with two outs left at the top of the seventh to put an exclamation point on Toledo's victory.

GAME 2 – Murray State 7, Toledo 1

• Murray State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on an RBI single to center field.
• Lindsey Carroll extended her team's lead to 2-0 with a solo homer in the second.
• Leah Munson scored Toledo's only run on an RBI single from Jenna Kroll to make it a one-run ballgame in the third, 2-1.  
• The Racers added another run in the third on a fielder's choice to extend the lead 3-1.
• Murray State tacked on three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth en route to its 7-1 victory.