After winning nine in a row the softball team lost 9-11 to the Zurich Barracudas on Thursday evening at the Klopstockwiese and had to give up the top spot in the standings to the reigning champions Wittenbach Panthers.

The action went back and forth. The game was characterized by spectacular plays, but also numerous errors, which caused a lot of traffic on the bases. The home team got off to a better start. After two innings the Challengers were ahead 5-2. Solana Lutz immediately reduced the lead to 4-5 with a 2-run single, but the Challengers were able to save the lead with a rundown and a rare double play on first and third base. In the fourth inning however, the Challengers took a timeout. With three errors, among other things, they didn’t make it too difficult for the Barracudas. The guests mercilessly exploited the errors to make it 8-5. But the Challengers fought their way back. Molly Mullens and Anna Zgraggen with an RBI single initially reduced the score to 7-8, before Alexia Zingg made it 8-8 with an RBI in the fifth. The game was tied to start the sixth inning. With doubles from Mariah Jameyson and Nadine Kronenberg as well as a sac bunt from Jody Fischer and an RBI groundout from Ines Dübendorfer the Barracudas took the lead again by three runs. The home team tried everything again, but could not manage more than the 9-11 by Anouk Lkharrazi, which sealed the first Challengers defeat after nine wins in a row.

Anna Zgraggen and Molly Mullens each scored two hits, Alexia Zingg recorded two RBI and Isabelle Tan scored two runs for the Challengers.