The La Crosse Steam lost their season opener 8-5 on Wednesday to the Mankato Habaneros.

The Steam got the scoring started in the bottom of the 1st. After a triple by Jackie Larsen (Bemidji State),  Grace Frechette (St. Cloud State) skyed a sac fly to give the Steam and early 1-0 lead. The score held until the 4th as both teams traded scoreless frames and strong defensive play.

Preslynn Baker (John Melvin Christian College) went 5 innings, dealing a scoreless first 3 frames before running into some trouble in the 4th. Led by a pair of walks and singles, plus a HBP, the Habaneros plated 5 in the top of the 4th. The Steam were able to get one back in the bottom of the frame with another triple, this one from Kaylie Frydenlund (SIU Edwardsville), followed by Preslynn Baker sac fly.

The Habaneros scored 6 off Baker, and scored two more with Josie Brudos (West Salem HS) entering for Baker. Brudos however responded in the bottom of the 6th with some offense of her own, socking a 3 run shot over the wall in center to bring us to a 3 run game. The blast energized the home crowd and gave the Steam some late momentum heading into the final innings.

The Steam would be unable to muster anymore runs however, stranding runners in both the 6th and 7th innnigs en route to a 8-5 loss.The Steam will travel to Wausau tomorrow to take on the Ignite before returning to the Steamyard on Friday to face off against Mankato once again. First pitch is at 6:35.