ST. PAUL, Minn.- After dropping the series opener to Bethany Lutheran on Friday evening, the University of Northwestern Softball team got two more cracks at the Vikings on Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Field. The Eagles and the Vikings, who continue to be two of the top teams in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, concluded their regular season series with a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Eagles evened things up with a 5-3 win in game two before the Vikings took the rubber match 6-1 to claim the series victory.
Saturday marked a special occasion for the UNW Softball program as they celebrated the 50 year legacy of the program. UNW Athletics held a pregame ceremony in which all Eagle Softball alumni were honored and former Eagle pitcher Brenda (Mohr) Meeker threw out the first pitch. After the doubleheader, all former Eagle players and coaches gathered with the current UNW coaching staff (who all happen to be alumni as well) for a meal inside the Ericksen Center.
Game One
Entering the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, Bethany Lutheran was in first place in the conference at 8-0. At the conclusion of game one, the Vikings no longer held an unblemished conference record as the Eagles handed them their first UMAC defeat of the season.
After falling to the Vikings the night before, UNW Head Coach
Alicia du'Monceaux knew the importance of bouncing back in game two. She decided to send a first year Eagle,
Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover), to the circle. Bottineau did allow a run in the top of the first but would settle down and give the Eagles a quality start in what was the biggest game of the season up to this point.
The Eagles did not trail for long in this contest.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) singled and stole second base to start the game.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) walked and advanced a base, along with Lane, on a wild pitch.
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly ball to centerfield as Lane scored and Beer moved to third base.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) grounded out to the shortstop but collected an RBI on the play as Beer came in to score. UNW had not only erased their early deficit but now led 2-1 after one inning.
Bottineau, after dealing with some long Vikings' at bats in the first, got into a groove in the top of the second frame. She gave up a walk but did not allow a run.
Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) drew a walk and gave way to a pinch runner:
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice). Henning came around to score later in the inning on a
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) single through the right side of the infield. UNW's lead grew to 3-1.
Bottineau allowed a leadoff single in the third but immediately took care of baserunner in the next at bat. The Viking at the plate tried to bunt but popped the ball in the air. Bottineau scampered over, caught it, and fired the ball to first base for a double play. She pitched a scoreless third inning as well as a scoreless fourth.
Bethany Lutheran did pick up an RBI double off of Bottineau in the top of the fifth to trim their deficit to a single run. However, the Eagles got that run, and more, back in the home half of the fifth.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) has been on a tear at the plate over the last week and had hit two home runs in a game earlier in the week. UNW's shortstop didn't hit two home runs in this game, but she did hit one and it was a two run shot to extend the Eagles' lead to 5-2. Bentley now has five home runs on the season.
Now pitching with a three run lead, Bottineau had her cleanest inning of the game in the sixth, setting the Vikings down in order. In the seventh, a great defensive play from
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) at second base helped ice the win for the Eagles. In a three run game, an Eagle error put the leadoff runner on base in the final inning of play. The next batter ripped a ball up the middle and it appeared as if Bethany Lutheran would be bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs. Gee decided she didn't like the sound of that at all, decided to make a spectacular play to save the game. She moved to her right, got down on one knee, made a back handed stop, stepped on second base, and fired the ball to first base. Double play, two down. The next Bethany Luther batter hit a solo home run but it was too little, too late. The Eagles held on for a 5-3 win to even the series.
Bottineau picked up her fourth win of the season by pitching a complete game (7 innings), giving up three runs, and striking out four batters.
Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) got on base all three times she came up to the plate (two hits and a walk) while
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) led the way with two RBIs.
Game Two
The second game of Saturday's doubleheader was a nail biter for six of the seven innings. The Vikings carried a slim lead for the majority of the ball game and added some insurance runs in the seventh.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) got the start for the Eagles in game two and gave up an unearned run in the first inning. An error put the leadoff runner on base and two at bats later an RBI single brought that runner around to score. BLC took an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Strubbe hit a batter and then conceded a double. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly to score a run before the Eagles' pitcher would work her way out of trouble. The Vikings led 2-0.
Strubbe pitched back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth innings. She almost retired the Vikings in order for a third consecutive time in the sixth but did concede a single. The Vikings would not score in the sixth and Strubbe had held them scoreless for three straight frames.
Unfortunately for the Reynolds Field crowd cheering on the Eagles, UNW was unable to capitalize on Strubbe's shutdown performance in the middle innings. Through the first five innings of play, Bethany Lutheran's starter did not allow a UNW hit and only walked three Eagle batters.
Only trailing by two runs, the Eagles showed some life in the bottom of the sixth. In her third at bat of the game,
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) delivered the Eagles their first hit of the contest with an infield single to the left side.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) used a sacrifice bunt to get Lane to third base (not a typo, she flew around second base and advanced two bases on the bunt) and
Briar Armatoski (Amherst, Wis./Pacelli Catholic) pinch hit and drew a walk.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit a ground ball which brought Lane in from third base to score UNW's first run of the game. The Eagles now trailed 2-1 entering the final inning of play.
Bethany Lutheran was able to string a handful of base hits together in the seventh inning and scored four additional runs. UNW would go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh and drop the third and final game of the series, 6-1.
Up Next
The Eagles will continue their stretch of games against the best the UMAC has to offer this upcoming week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Eagles will play a three game series against Minnesota-Morris on the road. Minnesota-Morris is currently 7-0 in UMAC play and handed Wisconsin-Superior their first loss on Saturday in another matchup of undefeated UMAC teams that took place this weekend. Morris and Superior will play two more games on Sunday before UNW makes the trip to Morris, Minnesota. The Eagles have a 7-2 mark in conference play.
