La Crosse, Wis. - The Viterbo University Softball team had its first home games of the season on Wednesday as the team split a double-header against Clarke College. The V-Hawks lost the first game 8-3, but snuck out a 1-0 victory in game number two.

Senior pitcher Marissa Rathbun (Rochester, Minn.) pitched a complete game for the V-Hawks as she allowed six earned runs on 11 hits as she played her final home game for Viterbo. Rathbun will leave next Thursday on a nursing mission in Belize. Rathbun finished the game with two strikeouts while also going 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored.

Clarke took an 8-0 lead into the seventh inning before the V-Hawks were able to put a single run on the board. Kelly Sentkowski's (Sr. - Plainfield, Wis.) base clearing triple scored all three of Viterbo's runs as the V-Hawks were able to cut the lead to five. This is as close as the V-Hawks would come to making a comeback as Sentkowski was thrown out at home trying to score on Andrea Haines (Jr. - Arcadia, Wis.) ground ball to the pitcher.

The leading hitter for the V-Hawks was Kenisha McGuire (Fr. - La Crosse, Wis.) who went 2-for-4 at the plate. Sentkowski, Rathbun, and Sami Weaver (Fr. - Trempealeau, Wis.) were the only other V-Hawks to record a hit as Clarke's starting pitcher Nicky Newhoff allowed just five hits while earning the win for the Crusaders.

The V-Hawks took game number two 1-0 as the two teams combined for just six hits. With the score tied 0-0 in the sixth inning, McGuire scored the games lone run as Jenna Strait (Jr. - La Farge, Wis.) reached on an error by the Crusaders third baseman.

Earning the win for the V-Hawks was freshman Bethanee Nitz (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) who allowed just three hits while striking out five batters in the complete game shutout.

Weaver led the V-Hawks in hitting in the second game as she recorded two of the team's three hits. McGuire had the third hit for the V-Hawks as she finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.

With the split, the V-Hawks are now 3-17 overall with a 1-7 Midwest Collegiate Conference record. The Crusaders are now 9-13 overall with a 3-5 MCC record.