ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern is the center of the UMAC Softball universe this weekend as Reynolds Field is playing host to the UMAC Crossover tournament. Every team in the conference is in town to play four games total (two games today, two games tomorrow). The Eagles went 1-1 in their games today, defeating Martin Luther and falling to Bethany Lutheran.
Game One
The Eagles squared off with Martin Luther in the opening game of the UMAC Crossover tournament. The Eagles started the weekend with a bang by scoring three runs in the opening inning of the event. The first two Eagle batters were retired, but the Eagles' offense went to work with two outs.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) started things off with a two out single, and then three straight doubles scored three runs.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo),
Telma Roesler (Hastings, Minn./Crown College), and
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) were the hitters who provided the extra base hits to give the Eagles an early lead.
It was two out magic once again in the second inning as for a second time, the first two outs were recorded quickly but the Eagles' offense woke up with two outs. This time,
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) hit a double that scored
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) scored Lane with a single. The Eagles led 5-0 after two innings.
Martin Luther would attempt to mount a comeback in the middle innings as the Knights got their offense rolling. The visitors scored two runs in the fourth inning, two more in the fifth, and another run in the sixth. However, the Eagles were able to keep adding runs to hold off the Knights.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) added another RBI by singling home
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) once again in the fourth inning.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would then provide the final blow in the fifth inning. Beer hit a ball to the outfield that would not only score
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) and
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) but she would come around and score herself out of the batter's box. It would officially be scored as a triple and an error, but none the less it was an impressive showcase of speed from the freshman. The Eagles would hold on to win 9-5.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) pitched six innings for the Eagles after getting the start in the circle and the freshman racked up six strikeouts in the game.
Diana Boyce (Phoenix, Ariz./Park City) would then come in and pitch a perfect seventh inning to close out the win.
Game Two
After a high scoring first game, the Eagles' played in a pitchers' duel in their second game. UNW played as the visiting team despite being at Reynolds Field, and Bethany Lutheran was in the home dugout. After just playing a doubleheader against each other earlier this week, the two teams went to battle once again in a game featuring two of the top teams in the conference.
It was a well-pitched and well-played game to start out. Runs were hard to come by early on as the game was locked in a scoreless tie after three innings. In the top half of the fourth inning, the visiting Eagles (despite playing on their own campus) broke through. With a full count,
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) went the other way and just tucked a ball inside the left field line for a double that scored
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West). Iverson would then come around to score off of a
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) double and the Eagles led 2-0.
In the fifth inning, it was
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) who would add to UNW's lead. The freshman once again hit a ball down the left field line and this time it scored
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall). The Eagles took a 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the fifth inning.
The Eagles tried to hold on for the important conference victory, but the Vikings put together a late game comeback to pull out the win. The Vikings stormed back to take the lead with a four run fifth inning. The Vikings scored a run off of a RBI single in the inning, but the rest of the runs came as a result of the Vikings taking advantage of Eagle errors in the field. Bethany Lutheran won the game 4-3.
Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) pitched a complete game for the Eagles and struck out three batters in her six innings of work.
Up Next
The Eagles will continue to host the UMAC Crossover tournament tomorrow and they will begin their day with a game at 12:00 P.M. against North Central. This will be Senior Day for the Eagles. UNW will finish out the weekend with a game at 4:00 P.M. against UW-Superior. The Eagles will be celebrating Alumni Day before this game as they honor a former coach before first pitch.
