Thunder steals late victory from Bandits

In her debut as a Chicago Bandit, Kristina Thorson was almost untouchable on the mound, surrendering just 3 hits in 6ˆº innings in a 2-1 loss against the Rockford Thunder in the National Pro Fastpitch season opener.

In the top of the second, the Bandits opened the scoring when left fielder Laura Harms singled to bring home Jamie Clark for 1-0 lead.

The bats cooled down for the Bandits after that, as Rockford starting pitcher Cassidy Scoggins (1-0) allowed only three more Bandits to reach base the rest of the way.

Scoggins pitched a complete game for the Thunder, allowing just 1 run in 7 innings of work.

In the fifth inning, Rockford tied the score on a solo homer by second baseman Lindsay Gardner.

In the bottom of the seventh, after Stephanie Fischer bunted to put Jessica Williams in scoring position at second base, Savannah Brown laced a game-winning single for the 2-1 victory.

Chicago will square off in Rockford again on Friday for game two of the four-game series.