DUBUQUE - The Cedar Rapids Prairie softball team was swept by Dubuque Hempstead Tuesday in a Mississippi Valley Conference opener in Dubuque.

Hempstead won the first game, 5-4, and took the nightcap, 10-3.

Sara Stevenson went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for Prairie in the opener. Gabi Carter collected two singles and Brittney Lash hit a double.

Taylor Stecklein had two singles for the Hawks in the nightcap. Lash and Carter hit doubles.

Katie Kuch pitched all six innings for Prairie in the first game. The Hawks led 4-3 after five innings, but Hempstead scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead.

Kuch also pitched four innings in relief in the nightcap.

Game 1

Prairie           300 010 0 - 4  7 4
Hempstead   002 102 x - 5 10 1

W - Koeperich. L - Kuch.

Game 2

Prairie           201 000 0 -  3  6  4
Hempstead   730 000 x - 10 13 2

W - Albrecht. L - Carter.