KISSIMMEE, Fla.: The spring trip to Florida has not been kind to the Yellowjacket softball team. Runs have been tough to come by, and as a result the Yellowjackets were winless through the first days of the trip. A doubleheader Tuesday provided the Yellowjackets with their latest opportunity to get back in the win column and find an answer to what has been ailing their offense.

Yellowjackets 9, Mount St. Mary 2

The bats came alive in support of a strong pitching performance by Damara Theis (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee), giving the Yellowjackets the win in their first game of the day and snapping their losing streak.

Mount St. Mary rallied with two outs in the top of the first inning to take the early 1-0 lead. The Yellowjackets answered, however, when Ashley Taipale (Duluth, Minn./Denfield) blasted her second home run of the season, clearing the left field fence to tie the game at 1-1.

It stayed tied until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Yellowjackets blew things open. Alayna Tulip (Arcadia, Wis./Arcadia) drove in pinch runner Briana McGrath to break the tie. Later in the inning a Mount Saint Mary error on an Amelia Leger (Andover, Minn./Andover) bunt brought home two more runs to put the Yellowjackets up by three. Amber Yoch (North Branch, Minn./North Branch Area) drove in Leger to plate the final run of the inning for the Yellowjackets, giving them a 5-1 lead.

Mount St. Mary got one run back in the top of the fifth before the Yellowjackets added to their lead in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Gabby Gidley (Superior, Wis./Superior) doubled to center field, scoring Leger and Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East). Two hitters later Bailey Armstrong (Scandia, Minn/Forest Lake) singled to score two more runs, closing out the scoring and giving the Yellowjackets a 9-2 victory.

Aside from one game on the trip, the Yellowjackets hadn't collected more than four hits in a game. That changed in this one as the Yellowjackets collected eight hits. Armstrong led the way, finishing the game with two hits.

Theis was masterful in the circle, going the distance, allowing two runs on 10 hits. She finished the game with five strikeouts in picking up her first win of the season.

St. Norbert 6, Yellowjackets 1

In the day's second game the Yellowjackets fell behind St. Norbert College early, and it proved to be just too big of a hill to climb.

After setting the Yellowjackets down in the top of the first the Green Knights put a big inning together in the bottom half, scoring four times to take the early lead. The big blow in the inning was a two-run double of the bat of Sarah Koltermann.

St. Norbert held the 4-0 lead until the fifth inning when the Yellowjackets scored their only run of the game. Yoch walked to start the inning and went to second on a single by Kirk. Yoch moved up to third base on a flyout before scoring when Gidley flew out to center field to make it 4-1. St. Norbert answered, however, scoring in the bottom of the fifth to regain the four-run lead.

The Green Knights had the makings of a big rally in the bottom of the sixth, but only scored once and left the bases full when the Yellowjackets got the final out.

Down five, the Yellowjackets looked to mount a rally of their own in the seventh, but left two on base, making the final score 6-1.

The Yellowjackets had five hits in the game, with Armstrong having her second multi-hit game of the day. Kirk also had two hits.

Taipale got the start for the Yellowjackets and pitched a complete game, allowing six earned runs on 12 hits. She walked three and struck out two.

The Yellowjackets (3-10) have an off day Wednesday before returning to action Thursday, March 20 when they take on Plattsburgh State University out of New York and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.