KISSIMMEE, Fla. ­- A strong start was all the Carroll University softball team needed as it defeated University of Dubuque 6-4 in a nonconference game to cap the second day of the Rebel Spring Games at the Osceola Softball Complex on Sunday.
Carroll, which improved to 2-2 on its spring trip and 5-3 overall, scored three times in both the first and second innings to set the tone.
Senior first baseman Kelly Strasser (Waterford, Wis.) had an RBI single to left field and freshman starting pitcher Lexy Kemnitzer (McFarland, Wis.) followed with a two-run single to center field to fuel a three-run bottom of the first for the Pioneers.
Carroll's final three runs in the second were unearned.
Senior shortstop Megan Kohlmetz (Appleton, Wis.), sophomore catcher Veronica Rodriguez (South Bend, Ind.) and sophomore second baseman Maggie Erdman (Jefferson, Wis.) each scored as the result of errors in the second.
Kohlmetz, the team's leadoff hitter, went 2-for-4 with a double and scored two runs to power a nine-hit offensive attack for Carroll. Rodriguez also contributed two hits and scored twice in the contest. Erdman, sophomore right fielder Annika Graves (Muskego, Wis.) and sophomore left fielder Rosie Craine (Wheaton, Ill.) each added a hit. 
Kemnitzer, a right-hander, allowed two earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts, one walk and a hit batsman through 5 1/3 innings to earn the victory. Freshman right-hander Amanda Osterhus (Munster, Ind.) pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to pick up a save.
Junior second baseman Ellie Schneider went 2-for-3 and drove in a run for University of Dubuque, which dropped to 1-5 overall.
The Spartans scored four runs on four hits in the top of the sixth but couldn't get any closer.