MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Softball team has had a long hiatus due to games being postponed/canceled because of weather concerns. The wait was over for Eagles softball fans as the squad traveled to North Central University for a doubleheader. The games marked the first UMAC games of the season for UNW, and the Eagles got off to a good start by sweeping the doubleheader.
Game One
The first game of the doubleheader started off as a pitchers' duel, but the bats would heat up later in the game. The first two innings of the contest went by quickly as neither offense could get much going and it was a scoreless tie after the first two frames.
The Eagles got the scoring started in the top half of the third inning.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) picked up an RBI with a single up the middle that scored
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West). Later in the inning, with Bentley now on third base,
Telma Roesler (Hastings, Minn./Crown College) would steal second base and Bentley would come in to score on an error by the opposing catcher. North Central would answer back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, and the Eagles led 2-1 after three innings.
The offense would continue to roll in the next half inning.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) hit a triple in the top half of the fourth inning and
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) would come in to score. Carlson was then driven in by an infield single from
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian). In the fifth inning
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) hit a single that scored
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice). North Central got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, and the score was 5-2 entering the sixth inning.
The Eagles offense exploded in the last two innings of the game. UNW scored 4 runs in the sixth inning and 10 runs in the seventh inning to win their UMAC opener.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) had a two-run double in the sixth and
Telma Roesler (Hastings, Minn./Crown College) added a run batted in.
In the seventh inning,
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) got things started with a two-run double.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) would score two runs with a single and that was followed by an RBI from
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice).
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) then drove in a run and a bases loaded walk from
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) scored another run. Carlson and Lane would each add more RBIs to their afternoon, and that landed the Eagles a 19-2 victory.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) led the Eagles with four hits and added three RBIs.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) and
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) each had three hits in the game, with Lane driving in five runs and Bentley driving in three runs.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake),
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist),
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington), and
Chloe Kimmes (New Trier, Minn./Randolph) all had two hits apiece.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) pitched a complete game for the Eagles and picked up her third win of the season. Carlson struck out eight, and only gave up five hits.
Game Two
The Eagles' offense was explosive once again in the final game of the doubleheader in a game that only lasted five innings.
Hannah Woodworth (Panora, Iowa/Panorama) drilled a triple to centerfield in the second inning to score
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo).
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would follow that with a double to score Woodworth. Beer would then score off of a passed ball and the Eagles had an early 3-0 lead.
Hannah Woodworth (Panora, Iowa/Panorama) wasn't done with her strong performance in game two. The junior would drive in
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) with a single in the top half of the third inning.
The fourth inning was the best inning of the game for the Eagles.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) and
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) each had run scoring singles to start things off.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) would deliver yet another triple for UNW that scored Lane. After adding a few more insurance runs, and seeing the Rams score a couple of runs of their own in the fifth inning, the Eagles would win the game 10-2.
The offense was spread out in this contest with seven players recording hits.
Hannah Woodworth (Panora, Iowa/Panorama) and
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) each had three RBIs in the second game of the doubleheader.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) picked up her fifth win of the season in the pitching circle. The freshman had seven strikeouts in the five innings she pitched.
Up Next
The Eagles will continue UMAC play when they host Northland College for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 5
th.
