MILWAUKEE – The MSOE softball team battled back, but could not catch Dominican in dropping a pair of games to open conference play Sunday afternoon at MSOE Athletic Field.

The Raiders (0-8, 0-2 NACC) fell in game one 4-3, but trailed the Stars (12-6, 2-0 NACC) 4-0. Then, in game two, the visitors went ahead 8-2 before the Red & White battled back in a 9-7 final.

Dominican did its damage in spurts, scoring four runs in the fifth inning of game one to break a scoreless tie.

MSOE fought back, striking for three runs in the sixth inning. After a walk and single to lead off the frame, DU got two quick outs. Junior Callie Wightman then followed with an RBI double. Senior Beth Young then singled to right to plate another run and senior Lauren Boyle singled to center to make it 4-3.

The hitting did not end as senior Katie Ready loaded the bases with another single. Unfortunately, the Raiders would strand the bases loaded for the second time in the game, after also doing so in the fourth.

Junior Shannon Curtis (0-4) was saddled with the loss despite yielding just two earned runs in the complete game. She struck out two, walked one and danced around 10 hits.

Ready and freshman Rachel Ziemba finished with two hits each in the opener.

In game two, Dominican jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with another four-run inning in the first. It would then repeat the feat in the fifth to make it 8-2.

The Raiders once again rallied, striking for three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Wightman came up with another RBI single in the fifth-inning rally and the team also capitalized on a two-run error.

After a home run by Allie Woitovich to open the sixth inning made it 9-5, Ready ripped an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning with no outs and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by freshman Emily Snow. The rally was stopped there, despite another runner reaching third in the frame.

Curtis closed out the game with a strong 2.1 innings of relief. Sophomore Caitlyn Moran (0-3) got the start and tossed 4.2 innings.

Wightman finished with three hits in the game, while Ready, Snow and Ziemba had two hits apiece.

The Raiders return to the field Thursday with a non-conference doubleheader at Maranatha.