FREMONT, Neb. – The bats came alive for the College of Saint Mary softball team Sunday.

The Flames had 15 hits against Midland University including back-to-back home runs in the Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader.

The offensive highlights, however, weren't enough for the Flames to knock off the Warriors. Midland won the first game 7-5 and the second game 10-2.

"Midland is a great team who is receiving votes in the national Top 25 poll," CSM Coach Carolyn Todd Bray said. "They've got the GPAC Pitcher of the Year and the GPAC Player of the Year from last year. They are the real deal and we played right with them the first game."

Bray credited a great hitting warm-up with Coach Ryan Glatter Sunday morning before the Flames made the trip to Fremont, Neb.

"We hit on campus before we left today because of a tournament being held at Midland's fields," Bray said. "We were prepared for what we were going to see today and we attacked the game plan. For us to chase the GPAC's top pitcher out of the game in the fourth inning was a big accomplishment."

The Flames trailed early in the game when two errors in the first inning gave the Warriors a three-run lead. Midland went up 7-0 with four more runs in the second inning.

But CSM was just getting started. The Flames scored one run in the third inning and three runs in the fourth with the help of back-to-back homers from Mack Madrigal and Savannah Schewe. It was Madrigal's first career home run for the Flames.

College of Saint Mary scored one run in the top of the seventh to bring it within two runs and got the bases loaded, but Midland worked out of the jam.

Both teams finished with seven hits, but the Flames finished with three errors compared to Midland's one.

Kaela Persico and Morgan Ethen both tallied two hits on the day, while Izzy Monzon, Madrigal and Schewe each had one.

Garcia was the losing pitcher for CSM. She walked two and struck out one.

"I thought Megan pitched a great game," Bray said. "She kept us in it for sure."

The Flames finished with eight hits in the second game, but Midland tallied 11.

Madrigal went 3-for-3, Sydney Griffin added two hits and two RBI and Garcia, Schewe and Kayla Reed all had one each.

Daisy Lowther started for CSM. She surrendered nine hits and struck out one before being relieved by Kymber Shallenberger in the fourth. Shallenberger gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one.

"We played some good softball today and it was against one of the best teams we'll face this year," Bray said. "There were a lot of positives. Hopefully we can keep the bats going."

CSM falls to 0-6 in the GPAC and 3-25 on the season. The Flames return to action Tuesday at Doane University.