CLERMONT, Fla.- On Wednesday, March 6
th the University of Northwestern Softball team departed the Land of 10,000 Lakes and made their way down to the Sunshine State. The Eagles will fly back (pun intended) to Minnesota on Saturday, March 16
th. However, before the Eagles land (two bird puns in the opening paragraph… wow) back home they had one more game to play in Florida on Thursday. UNW took on Beloit College in the Floridian Finale and closed out the trip on a high note, winning 9-4.
When the Eagles came up to bat in the bottom of the first inning, they already found themselves trailing 1-0, but their deficit would be extremely short lived. UNW's offense clearly wanted to go out with a bang under the Florida lights on Thursday evening and they put up a crooked number in the home half of the first to jump out to a big lead.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) singled and stole second base to lead off the inning and
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) thought that it looked really cool when Terry did it so she decided to do the exact same thing. With Terry on third (she advanced on Beer's single) and Beer on second,
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) stepped into the box and brought them both home with a double to left field.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) followed up with a single and the first four Eagles reached base to start the game.
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice) pinch ran for the Eagles and she was not about to be left out of the "first inning stolen base" club so she swiped second as well. Later in the frame, with two outs,
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) drilled a double to centerfield to score Bentley and Henning. Summers would score on
Maggie Oehlerking's (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) single and the Eagles led 5-1 after one inning of play.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was the starting pitcher for UNW and she settled down nicely after giving up a run in the first inning. She would give up a hit in each the second and third frames but would ultimately pitch scoreless innings. The Eagles were also held scoreless in the second and third innings.
In the top of the fourth, Beloit took a chunk out of the Eagles' lead. They used a leadoff walk, a one out single, and a two out RBI single to score two runs in the frame. The Eagles would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) led off the fourth inning and was disappointed that she hadn't been able to showcase her speed since the first inning. Terry then proceeded to pick up a bunt single, steal second base, and then steal third base.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) came up to bat with one out and decided that she had so much fun bringing Terry into score last time so she decided to do it again. Bentley also wanted to make sure that the state of Florida knew she was really fast just like her teammates so she decided to pick up an RBI with a triple this time as she raced around the bases into third. UNW led 6-3 going into the fifth.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) finished out her outing by pitching her best two innings of the contest. She held Beloit scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings and didn't give up a hit in those frames.
UNW picked up three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. The rally started when
Briar Armatoski (Amherst, Wis./Pacelli Catholic) singled and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Terry was back in the box and bunted for another base hit (no we are not accidentally repeating ourselves, it happened again). Armatoski came in to score on another Beloit throwing error on the play. Bentley got on base once again but this time it was slightly more painful as she was hit by a pitch.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) brought Terry into score with a groundball to the shortstop.
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) then hit a groundball to short and reached base on the third Beloit error of the inning which allowed Bentley to score the final run of the inning. The Eagles led 9-3.
Beloit would get run in the top of the seventh off of an RBI double to left centerfield but it would not be enough as the Eagles went on to win 9-4.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) and
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) were a nuisance to their opponents all game long at the top of the Eagles' lineup. Terry had three hits and scored three runs while Bentley had two hits, scored two runs, and had three RBIs. Terry may struggle to make the return trip home to Minnesota as she is now wanted for theft in the state of Florida as she stole a remarkable five bases in the game.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) and
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) also had two hits apiece in the game.
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) had two RBIs.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) picked up the win in the circle for the Eagles and
Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover) pitched the seventh inning to preserve the win.
The Eagles' 2024 Florida trip is officially over. The next time UNW Softball will be in action will be Friday, March 22
nd against North Central University. The game will mark the Eagles' conference and home openers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00pm.
