NEGAUNEE — Negaunee has hit the ball hard and done it consistently the past few games. That included in a doubleheader Monday at home against Westwood.

After holding off the Patriots 6-2 in the opener, the Miners exploded in the nightcap, winning 20-5.

In the opener, Negaunee (13-4) scored in the bottom of the opening frame, padding its lead with another run in the second and a third run in the fourth before adding another three in the fifth.

Westwood battled back, though, scoring two in the seventh.

“The six runs in the first game werne’t indicative of how we hit,” Negaunee head coach Randy Carlson said. “They have a good centerfielder and she caught three balls right up at the fence. We did enough to win and Abby (Nelson) pitched really well.”

Nelson got the win after giving up five hits and two walks while striking out four. Karlie Patron took the loss for the Patriots as she gave up seven hits and struck out one in six innings.

Nelson also hit a three-run homer, while Negaunee teammate MacKenzie Karki went 2 for 3 with two runs scored.

Katie Wiljanen and Raija Stille both had a hit and a run scored for Westwood.

In Game 2, the Patriots struck quickly with two runs in the top of the first. After that, things went downhill for Westwood as Negaunee scored 11 runs in its half of the first and closed out the game with nine in the third.

“They’re (the Patriots) are really young,” Carlson said. “They’re getting experience and they’ll get better. With younger kids, it takes some time.

“We’re swinging the bats and our defense is solid. We still have work to do and we have to keep getting better, but right now, I’m very happy.”

Katelyn Lammi led Negaunee’s charge as she went 4 for 4, while Karki and Payton Drew each had two hits and two RBIs.

Stille and Liz Farley both had two hits for Westwood.

Malorie Munson earned the pitching win for the Miners as she gave up eight hits and struck out four, while Allie Raddcliffe was dealt the loss for the Patriots.

Negaunee plays at Iron Mountain at 4:30 p.m. EDT today, while Westwood is off until Monday when it hosts the Mountaineers.

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Ishpeming 12-16, Manistique 0-1

At Ishpeming, the Hematites busted loose offensively to sweep their twinbill from the Emeralds.

“Our bats have come alive in our last two doubleheaders,” Ishpeming head coach Ben McGuire said. “We’re excited to go to that tournament (Escanaba Invitational) Saturday so we can see how we perform against some of the better teams and see where we stand.”

In the opening 12-0 win, Ishpeming led 3-0 after two innings before erupting for nine runs in the third to break the game open. Meanwhile, Hematites pitcher Emma Bleau kept Manistique off the basepaths as she threw a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

Korey Kaukola led the Hematites (7-6) as she went 2 for 3 with two doubles, while Bleau and Myah McNab each had two hits.

In the nightcap, Ishpeming got rolling from the start as the Hematites plated eight runs in the first for a 16-1 victory.

Bleau picked up the win again for Ishpeming as she again gave up no hits and struck out five in her two innings of work.

McNab was the Hematites’ offensive stalwart as she hit a triple, a three-run homer and had seven RBIs. Madison Pruett went 4 for 4 for Ishpeming, while Kaukola was 3 for 4 with a double.

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Marquette 2-14, Rapid River 11-6

At Marquette, the Redettes (6-9-1) had a rough outing in the first game, but bounced back to defeat the Rockets in the nightcap.

“We’re going through a trend right now where we play way better in the second game than the first,” Redettes head coach Paul Seibert said. “The girls keep working hard and they’re getting better at certain things, but we still need to work on things. When we get rolling, we look really good, but if we get behind, we kind of flatten out. We’re trying to work on that and keep staying positive.”

In the opener, Rapid River scored a run in the top of the first inning and kept piling on from there. The Rockets finished with 16 hits and took advantage of five Marquette errors. RR also kept the Redettes off the scoreboard until they plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a pinch-hit single by Amanda McIntire.

Brittany Schwartz and Erica Proehl both had three hits and two RBIs for the Rockets, while Rayna Warchock was 1 for 3 with a run scored for Marquette.

Natalie Belanger earned the pitching win for RR as she struck out nine batters and gave up two walks in six innings. Megan McIntire took the loss for Marquette.

The nightcap went much better for the Redettes, but it didn’t seem that way early on as the Rockets led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

That’s when Marquette started to catch fire as it scored five runs in the inning and plated seven more in the fourth to take a commanding 13-4 advantage before eventually winning 14-6.

Warchock picked up the win for Marquette after giving up six runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Belanger was dealt the loss for the Rockets.

Sophia van den Ende led the Redettes offensively as she went 3 for 4 with a double, triple, four RBIs and a run scored. Megan McIntire had two hits, one being a triple, an RBI and three runs scored.

Belanger was also RR’s leading hitter as she went 3 for 4 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored.

Marquette plays at Kingsford at 4:45 pm. EDT Thursday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.