Haskell Indian Nations University softball coach Gary Tanner had all his starters in Wednesday’s lineup.

That, Tanner said, was victory enough as the Indians dropped both games of a home-opening twinbill at Lady Indian Softball Field.

“It was kind of nice to finally be out there playing and have everyone on the field,” said Tanner, whose oft-injured squad lost, 7-5 and 3-1, to Bethany.

HINU (0-5) held a 5-2 lead in the opener when Indian pitcher Julie Sharp held off the Swedes until the seventh inning.

After scoring two one-out runs, Bethany loaded the bases. Then outfielder Katie Schmidt ripped a triple, giving the Swedes a 7-5 advantage.

“We just didn’t do a good job of closing out the ballgame,” Tanner said. “The girls were all worried about runners on the bases instead of the ones that mattered. We told them to just concentrate on the easy out, but instead we had errors that allowed them a couple of runs and then they got the big hit.”

In the second game Bethany scored fast, plating three in the first two innings. The game was stopped because of darkness.

HINU will be back in action Friday and Saturday at McPherson College when they play seven games in the McPherson Tournament.

“We’re going to get our share of wins,” Tanner said, “we just didn’t show that today.”