Call it the irony of athletics. Brooke Chapman threw what was (at least statistically) her best game of the season last Saturday when Hamline's softball team lost, 2-0, to Gustavus in the opener of a doubleheader.
It was her first loss of the year after seven victories. The freshman scattered seven hits and allowed only one earned run (coming, in part because of a windblown fly ball). She walked one, struck out six and lowered her ERA to 2.88 -- her best numbers of the season.
Before that game, she had been unscathed on the mound. Earlier in the week, she threw a CG five hittewr in a 5-3 win over St. Mary's. Her hitting has improved as well. After a slow start, she is up to a .306 BA for the season.
Chapman and her mates are in the running for a playoff spot. They will face Bethel Wednesday at the Rosemount (MN) Dome in their final games of the season.