WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College's softball team nearly picked up a second consecutive top-25 upset against No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan.

The Lancers (5-7, 1-3 Crossroads League) went toe-to-toe with the Wildcats in game one of Friday's double-header, but ultimately fell 1-0. Grace dropped game two by a score of 13-6.

Game one was a pitchers duel throughout the contest as both pitchers were nearly unhittable.

Freshman Chloe Huff got the start in the circle for Grace and retired the first five batters of the game. Huff left the Wildcats' (13-3, 4-0 CL) lone hit of the second inning stranded after inducing a ground ball to end the top-half of the inning.

Grace had runners in each of the first two-innings but was unable to break the deadlock. Each side was retired in order in the third inning.

The Wildcats had a one-out single in the fourth inning, but Avery Sleeth gunned the runner down on an attempted steal of second base.

In the bottom half of the fifth inning Sleeth reached after she was struck by a pitch and moved to scoring position with a stolen base. The game remained a scoreless tie however as Sleeth was left stranded at second base.

In the top of the seventh inning the Wildcats finally broke up the shutout with a solo homerun over the right field fence.

IWU continued to threaten in the inning as they loaded the bases with just one out, but Huff closed the door limiting the Wildcats to just one run.

Grace had a chance to make a comeback in the seventh inning thanks to a two-out double from Sleeth, but Grace was unable to get her any closer, dropping game one 1-0.

Game two saw an offensive explosion in the first inning.  The Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the first to grab an early lead.

In the bottom of the first inning Grace had its first four batters reach via walks. Tia O' Conner then had a two-RBI single that tied the game at 3 apiece.

Sleeth had a sacrifice fly to give Grace its first lead of the day and Halle Nett recorded an RBI thanks to a bases-loaded walk.

The Lancers maintained the 5-3 advantage into the third inning before IWU's offense came to life again. The Wildcats scored four runs in the third frame to nudge back into the lead 7-5

In the bottom of the fourth inning the Lancers drew to within a run. Bella Duran reached on a single and came around to score after a defensive miscue on a Jeri Ellis single.

The Lancers were unable to get any closer however, as IWU added six more runs over the final two innings to capture the game 13-6.

Grace will have another Crossroads League showdown on Saturday. The lancers travel to Michigan to take on Spring Arbor.