Gaps in the outfield were hard to come by for the Albert Lea softball team at home Monday against Rochester John Marshall.

“We had a couple of balls that were hit pretty well, but we just couldn’t find any holes in the defense,” said Albert Lea head coach Dan Harms.

The Tigers were held to one hit in a 7-0 loss.

The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning. John Marshall took its first lead on a hit to center field that drove in two runs with two outs.

The Rockets tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth with a two-run shot by Ashley Jochum.

John Marshall scored two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, despite two big plays by Albert Lea’s defense.

Megan Kortan got the Tigers out of the top of the sixth inning when she fielded a grounder at shortstop, fumbled it and had a strong enough arm to still throw the runner out at first base.

The second big play was a grab by Taylor Thompson near the warning track in left field for the second out of the seventh inning.

“That was a great catch,” coach Harms said. “It saved some runs because there were two on when she hit that. Taylor usually plays defense like that.”

After scoring 14 runs in two games Saturday at the St. Clair Tournament, the Tigers couldn’t find their groove at the plate with one hit, six strikeouts and no walks.

Haley Harms led Albert Lea from the pitching circle by striking out three batters and allowing seven hits and six earned runs in 30 at-bats.

“I told them that we have nothing to hang our heads about defensively,” coach Harms said. “We need to work a little harder on the offensive side and start moving the ball around a little bit.”

Harms tallied Albert Lea’s only hit and stole second base. Haley Schroader took a base on balls.

The Tigers (2-4 overall, 1-3 Big Nine Conference) will look to bounce back at 5 p.m. today at Mankato West.

Statistics are in the Scoreboard: April 21 post.