ST. IGNATIUS — It was one heck of a senior day for the MAC Lady Bulldogs. Seniors Kinley Pope and Janeal McDonald hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning of their second game against Eureka, followed by a single by senior Sara Nerby that highlighted just how much the upperclassmen mean to the Lady Bulldogs’ success. Their doubleheader sweep of Eureka clinched the best regular season record in the history of the MAC softball program at 17-2.

ST. IGNATIUS — It was one heck of a senior day for the MAC Lady Bulldogs. Seniors Kinley Pope and Janeal McDonald hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning of their second game against Eureka, followed by a single by senior Sara Nerby that highlighted just how much the upperclassmen mean to the Lady Bulldogs’ success. Their doubleheader sweep of Eureka clinched the best regular season record in the history of the MAC softball program at 17-2.

“It means quite a bit,” MAC softball coach Susan Weaselhead said. “The girls every week made short-term goals for each game and I think they’re happy with reaching those goals. The girls work hard and they’re growing stronger every time they play.”

MAC now gears up for divisionals where they’ll be the No. 2 seed in the tournament. They’ll be in the same tournament as their Mission Valley rivals, Ronan.The Maidens are coming off a weekend where they scored 86 runs in four games and finished the season extremely strong for the No. 3 spot in the division with a 15-7 record.

“We’ll be preparing for Ronan all week,” Weaselhead said. “We’ve got to come in with a lot of focus.”

Last year, MAC won its first divisional title thanks to two come-from-behind victories against Florence and Loyola. That means these Lady Bulldogs know how to win in the postseason even when they’re down in the later innings.

“Most of my girls here there when we did that,” Weaselhead. “That’s why I’ve been subbing in a lot of players too - to give them that feel of the intensity for varsity. It helps us to be prepared for games when they come down to the wire. I’m really proud of how hard all the girls have been working this season.”

MAC SWEEPS EUREKA

The Lady Bulldogs collected 32 hits and gave senior day a special kind of feeling when they swept Eureka by a combined score of 26-6 on Saturday. Pope gave MAC the power surge with two home runs, including a three-run walkoff in the bottom of the fifth of the first game.

In that first game, MAC jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first two innings and looked like they were cruising for a 10-run margin victory. However, Eureka notched a run in the top of the fourth to stay alive in the contest. That was before Pope used her powerful bat to end the game with the walkoff homer for the 13-1 victory.

Pope finished the game 2-for-4. Pitcher Loren Erickson picked up the victory and was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two RBIs. McDonald had two hits and a double as did Nerby. Serena Long and Connor Smith both had multi-hit games for MAC as well.

In the second game, Eureka took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but MAC answered back with four runs in the third. They scored three more in the fourth and in the top of the sixth, MAC got back-to-back homers from Pope and McDonald for a four-run rally. The Lady Bulldogs capped off the scored with two more runs in the seventh.

They finished the game with 16 hits, while the combination of Courtney Charlo and Erickson held Eureka to just five hits in the 13-5 victory.

Erickson finished game at the plate 4-for-4 with two RBIs, while catcher Alyssa Doty was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Pope finished the game with four RBIs.

“Eureka definitely had some strong players and we had to adjust to them,” Weaselhead said. “It helped us prepare, and it gave us a look at different situations that we might face at divisionals and we’ll have to adjust for those.”

LADY BULLDOGS 10-RUN LOYOLA

MAC scored eight runs in the top of the second inning en route to a 10-0 victory over Loyola last Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs’ offense was backed up by the pitching of Erickson, who picked up the victory after allowing just three hits and striking out five. MAC finished the game with nine hits.

“The game was a good opportunity for everybody to see time on the field,” Weaselhead said. “We went in and we hit the ball well.”

McDonald finished the game 2-for-3 with a double to lead MAC, while Smith was 2-for-2.

MAC 10, LOYOLA 0

M - 081 - 10 - 10

L - 000 - 00 - 0

MAC - 9 hits, 0 errors. Loyola - 4 hits, 1 error

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 1-2, Courtney Charlo 1-1, Loren Erickson 0-3, Alyssa Doty 1-3, Kinley Pope 0-1, Janeal McDonald 2-3, Serena Long 0-3, Sahriha Camacho 1-3, Connor Smith 2-2, Emilie Charlo 0-1, Emyli Gillingham 1-2. Doubles - McDonald LB Pitching - Loren Erickson

MAC 13, EUREKA 1

E - 000 - 10 - 1

M - 820 - 03 - 13

Eureka - 4 hits, 3 errors. MAC - 16 hits, 1 error

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 1-3, Loren Erickson 3-4, Alyssa Doty 2-3, Kinley Pope 2-4, Janeal McDonald 2-3, Serena Long 2-3, Sahriha Camacho 1-3, Connor Smith 2-2, Emilie Charlo 0-1, Emyli Gillingham 1-2, Trinda Foust 0-1. Doubles - Nerby, Erickson, McDonald. HR - Pope. RBIs - Nerby, Erickson 2, Doty, Pope 3, Long, Camacho, Gillingham. LB Pitching - Loren Erickson

MAC 13, EUREKA 5

M - 004 - 304 - 2 - 13

E - 010 - 031 - 0 - 5

MAC - 16 hits, 1 error. Eureka - 5 hits, 3 errors

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 1-5, Loren Erickson 4-4, Courtney Charlo 0-1, Alyssa Doty 3-5, Kinley Pope 2-4, Janeal McDonald 1-5, Serena Long 1-5, Sahriha Camacho 1-3, Carley Elverud 0-1, Emily Charlo 1-1, Connor Smith 1-2, Trinda Foust 0-1, Emyli Gillingham 1-3. 3B - Pope, Smith. HR - Pope, McDonald. RBIs - Doty 3, Pope 4, Erickson 2, McDonald, Gillingham. LB Pitching - Loren Erickson