MANKATO &045; The Mankato West Scarlets probably figured they had the Albert Lea Tigers beaten.

They didn’t.

Trailing 3-1 after six innings, the Tigers staged a dramatic rally and then held off the Scarlets 4-3 in a Big Nine Conference softball game at Mankato Monday. The Tigers lost 9-0 in the second game of the doubleheader but, according to coach Rick Harves, it was great to win in a season where wins have been tough to come by.

&uot;The girls played so well,&uot; said Harves. &uot;They deserved it.&uot;

And they earned it with clutch hits.

Amber Edwards led off the top of the seventh with a single, and Jenny Hovendick scored two runs with a drive that bounced once before hitting the fence. Jerri Mondeel then singled up the middle to score Hovendick with the gamewinner.

The Scarlets got a two-out baserunner in the bottom of the inning, but Nicole Rafdal got the final out on a grounder. Rafdal scattered 13 hits, striking out five and walking one.

Mondeel was 4-for-4. Ashley Helgerson and Ashley Chrz had two hits each. Contributing one hit were Rafdal, Edwards and Jess Hanson.

Hanson was 3-for-3 in the second game. Chrz, Hovendick, Rafdal and Leah Boyer also had hits.

&uot;We kind of lost our focus a little bit in the second game,&uot; said Harves. &uot;You could tell we were tired.&uot;

The Tigers were blanked 5-0 by Rochester Mayo Friday. Chrz had both Albert Lea hits.

The Tigers, 2-12 in the Big Nine and 4-14 overall, travel to Mankato East for a rescheduled game Thursday at 4 p.m. and play a Friday 4 p.m. doubleheader at Winona.

Albert Lea 4, Mankato West 3

AL

000

100

3 &045; 4

12

2

MW

110

001

0 &045; 3

13

0

WP &045; Nicole Rafdal

Mankato West 9, Albert Lea 0

AL

000

000

0 &045; 0

7

6

MW

201

240

x &045; 9

14

0

LP &045; Nicole Rafdal

Rochester Mayo 5, Albert Lea 0

RM

031

001

0 &045; 5

8

0

AL

000

000

0 &045; 0

2

5

LP &045; Nicole Rafdal