ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Softball team competed in day one of the first UMAC Crossover Weekend of the season on Friday afternoon and split their two games. UNW lost to Bethany Lutheran in a tight contest 5-4 but bounced back with a 12-0 victory over Martin Luther. History was made in the win over Martin Luther as freshman pitcher
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) threw a no-hitter against the Knights to lead the Eagles to their fifth UMAC win of the season.
Game One
The first game of the day saw the Eagles taking on a familiar foe, the Vikings from Bethany Lutheran College. The two teams have become staples at the top of the conference standings in recent years and met in the UMAC Postseason tournament a year ago. Fans knew that this would be a tight contest and were not disappointed.
The Vikings jumped out to an early lead by grabbing two runs in the first inning. BLC benefited from a leadoff double and an RBI single to score the opening run of the game. Then an RBI triple gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was the pitcher for the Eagles in the game and got into a groove after the first inning. The Vikings would struggle to get anything going against her over the next three innings as she held them scoreless through the second, third, and fourth innings.
Unfortunately for the Eagles and their fans, they also ran into hot pitching. UNW could not find a way to push a run across the plate through the first three innings of play. Finally in the fourth inning, UNW broke through. The first three batters of the inning got on base with
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) drawing a walk,
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) hitting a single, and
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) also adding a single. With the bases loaded,
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) would be the fourth consecutive Eagle to get on base by hitting an RBI single that scored Lane for the Eagles' first run of the game. All three runners would then advance on a wild pitch which allowed Summers to score and tie the game at two runs apiece. With runners on second and third and only one out, UNW was not able to get the tying run across the plate. The game remained tied 2-2.
Bethany Lutheran would immediately respond with a sacrifice fly scoring a run in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead back 3-2. They would also add two more runs in the seventh inning thanks to an error by the Eagles' defense. BLC led 5-2 entering the bottom half of the game's final inning.
UNW put together an epic comeback that came up just short in the seventh inning.
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) got on base thanks to an error with one out; she then advanced to third base on a single from
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian).
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit a two out single to score Gee and move Lane to second. Another Viking error off of the bat of
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) allowed Lane to score and Iverson to move to third base. The Eagles' rally would end there with tying run only 90 feet away. Bethany Lutheran hung on to escape with a 5-4 win.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) pitched a complete game and picked up four strikeouts.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) with three hits and
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) with two hits led the way offensively for UNW.
Game Two
The Eagles never trailed in game two. This time the opponent was the Knights from Martin Luther, and this time it was the Eagles who jumped out to an early lead.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) scored on a sacrifice fly from
Jenna Nusbaum (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) to score the game's first run.
After that, it was an avalanche of runs from UNW's offense.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) scored thanks to a single from
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin). Ehnstrom then scored off a
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) single.
Jenna Nusbaum (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) drove in Beer with a single.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) scored when
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) hit a sacrifice fly.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) drove in
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) with a single. Ehnstrom drove in Bentley with an RBI single for the second time in the ball game. Nusbaum continued her great day at the plate by hitting a double that scored Terry.
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) would also pick up an RBI with a sacrifice fly.
When it was all said and done, the Eagles' offense exploded for 12 runs off of 16 hits. 11 different UNW batters had hits and four Eagles had multi-hit games.
Despite all of Northwestern's offense in the contest, it was what happened when the Eagles were in the field that was the biggest story of the day. Freshman pitcher
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) was in the circle for the Eagles and put together the best outing of her career so far. She pitched a complete game shutout, only walked two batters, picked up six strikeouts, and did not give up a hit. Strubbe's no hitter was the first of her career. UNW's defense was terrific behind her, not making an error in the contest.
Up Next
The final two games of the weekend for UNW will take place at Reynolds Field thanks to a schedule change. Day two of the UMAC Crossover Weekend is tomorrow (Saturday, April 15
th) and the Eagles will play Wisconsin-Superior at 10:00 AM and Northland at 4:00 PM.
