MILWAUKEE -- Too few hits and several costly errors contributed to a pair of losses by the Alverno College softball team to Aurora University, as the Inferno fell 12-2 in the first game and 9-1 in the second game of the Northern Athletics Conference doubleheader at Alverno Field.

Senior pitcher Jessica Goetz (Milwaukee, Wis./Greendale Martin Luther), who threw all 10 innings in both games, and Alverno's defense were able to hold off Aurora through the first two innings of the first game until they exploded for four runs on four hits in the third inning. The visiting Spartans continued to pile on the hits and elevate the score throughout the remaining two innings, claiming 15 hits from Goetz in the first game.

Conversely, the Inferno (8-16, 2-6 NAC) batters were frustrated by Aurora's ace pitcher, Anna Snyder (Grayslake, Ill.), who denied the home team a single hit in her four innings in the circle, striking out nine with one walk to pick up the win.

"We had a rough time with the movement she is able to put on the ball," said Alverno head coach Kristin Kosobucki. "Because we struggled with that, the girls really only got the one at-bat for the most part and didn't get to make any adjustments."

After the Spartans made a pitching change to Allison Shimkus (Lockport, Ill.) in the bottom of the fifth inning, freshman third baseman Natalie Petrie (Franklin, Wis.) notched the Inferno's first hit of the day with a single. Freshman first baseman Jamie Villalobos (Antioch, Ill.) then cracked a double followed by junior left fielder Andrea Derrick's (Greenfield, Wis.) RBI single to score Petrie. Alverno took advantage of Aurora's lone error of the day to score their second run of the game.

"I think just seeing that new pitcher helped out our girls because she was just a little more hit-able and they were able to see the ball better and get some hits off her," Kosobucki said.

In the second game Aurora wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, striking for four runs in the first inning on two hits, taking full advantage of four Alverno miscues. The Spartans earned their other five runs in the fourth inning on five hits, one of which was Brianna Martin's (Andalusia, Ill.) second home run of the day with one on base.

While the Inferno defense only allowed one error in the first game, they would give up a total of five in the second game and allow the Spartans to score six of their nine runs unearned.

"We sometimes still struggle with some of the fly balls and break down a little bit in communication," Kosobucki said. "I think there were also some hits that fell in unlucky places. Aurora is a great hitting team and had a lot of solid shots."

The Inferno tallied their lone run of game two in the third inning, which was kick-started when sophomore right fielder Shataya McComb (Kingston, N.Y.) reached base for the Inferno's first hit of the game. Freshman center fielder Bre Hart (Racine, Wis./Park) followed with a double to score McComb.

Goetz was tagged with the pair of losses to drop to 8-13 on the season, striking out a total of nine batters with just one walk on the day while allowing 11 more Spartan hits in the second game.

Although the Inferno had their share of troubles on both the offensive and defensive sides, Kosobucki was able to see some bright spots in her team's play against a tough Aurora squad.

"I thought being able to string those hits together in the third inning of the second game was great to see," Kosobucki said. "Roxanne (Kresmer) had a deep hit right after the first run scored that Aurora's right fielder made a great catch on, but it was encouraging to see us hit the ball solidly in addition to the fact that we had runs in both games."

Alverno will continue NAC play this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders, first heading to Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday, April 17, followed by a home match-up with Wisconsin Lutheran College on Sunday.

"Concordia will definitely be another strong team," Kosobucki said. "But, I think if we can eliminate our errors and stay aggressive at the plate we have the ability to get a couple wins from them and from Wisconsin Lutheran as well."

Saturday's first pitch at Concordia is set for 12 p.m. in Mequon, Wis., while Sunday's start time versus Wisconsin Lutheran at Alverno is also slated for 12 p.m.