MORRIS, Minn.- In most scenarios, leading in a softball game is a positive position to be in. However, that was not the case in Morris on Wednesday afternoon as Northwestern and Minnesota-Morris competed in a doubleheader to complete their two day, three game series.
In game one of the double billing, the Eagles led by three runs entering the penultimate inning but the Cougars went on to win the game 4-3. In the second game, it was the Eagles who trailed big and they stormed back to defeat the Cougars 6-5 in the series finale. Minnesota-Morris won the series opener on Tuesday so they were victorious in the season series against Northwestern. After today's pair of contests, the UMAC standings show Minnesota-Morris in a tie with Bethany Lutheran for first place at 11-1 and Northwestern is alone in fourth place at 8-4. The Eagles' defeat of the Cougars in Wednesday's finale was the first conference loss of the season for Morris.
Game One
Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover), who pitched out of the bullpen on Tuesday and collected important outs late in the game for the Eagles, got the start in the opener on Wednesday. She was dominant early. She retired nine of the first ten batters she saw including back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the second and third frames.
Meanwhile, UNW's offense went scoreless through the first two innings, but gave their pitcher some run support in the top of the third.
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) picked up a single before the next two Eagles bunted.
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) turned her bunt into a single and
Sydney Lane's (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) bunt ended up as a sacrifice that moved the runners up one base each. With runners on second and third,
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) dumped a single into left field. Summers scored and Gee stopped at third base. Beer immediately swiped second base to put runners right back on second and third.
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) hit a fly ball to centerfield that was caught but was more than deep enough to allow Gee to score. A strikeout ended the inning, but after three innings of play, UNW led 2-0.
UNW's bats went quiet the next two frames; not extending their lead during the fourth or fifth innings. Fortunately for the Eagles, they didn't need any more runs at the moment because Bottineau remained nearly untouchable. She did give up a couple of base hits but the right hander didn't surrender any runs and kept the Eagles on top. She had blanked the Cougars through the first five innings and the Eagles still led 2-0 as the game entered the late stages.
The insurance runs that the Eagles were looking for came in the top half of the sixth.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) had reached base earlier in the inning thanks to a fielder's choice and came around to score when
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) hit a ball to third base. The ball was misplayed by the infielder and an error was charged as Bentley crossed the plate to give the Eagles' a 3-0 lead.
For five and a half innings, the Eagles had dominated this contest with their pitching, defense, and offense. Unfortunately, as we have seen many times before in this sport, things can change in an instant for better or worse. Later in the afternoon, that momentum change would help the Eagles comeback on the Cougars, but for now, in game one, this sudden change favored the home team in maroon and gold. The Cougars would string together a handful of base hits, including a pair of doubles, on their way to scoring four unanswered runs to take their first lead of the afternoon.
Beer did her best to spark a late rally with a two out base hit in the top of the seventh, but nothing would come of it. UNW fell to UMM in game one, 4-3.
Game Two
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Eagles were on the fun side of a large, late game comeback.
Minnesota-Morris poured on the offense in the home half of the first. The used four singles, two doubles, and a walk to ambush the Eagles with five first inning runs. The Cougars were aided by the sun shining over the Morris Softball Complex as the Eagles' outfield lost a couple of fly balls in the sun which allowed the inning to continue to snowball. The frame ended when
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) threw out a runner trying to steal second base for the third and final out.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) was the Eagles' starting pitcher and she pitched a phenomenal ball game for the Eagles. "The Cougars scored five runs in the first inning, how is that a great pitching performance?" No, I am not being biased towards UNW. And no, I'm not an idiot (well, I am. But not in this case). After a first inning in which she encountered a lot of bad luck regarding balls being hit directly into the sun, she turned in a gem of a performance. The Cougars were undefeated in conference play and in the final six innings of the game Strubbe did not allow a run, only gave up two hits, and picked up eight strikeouts in the game. It was an incredible response after a challenging opening inning and her performance in the final six innings was one of the best that the Eagles have seen so far in 2024.
Offensively, the Eagles' lineup was staring up at a five run deficit and was in danger of being swept by the first place Cougars. The comeback started in the top of the third.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) singled and came around to score on a
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) double. Beer advanced to third on the throw home and scored in the next at bat when
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) grounded out to the shortstop. The scoreboard now read 5-2 in favor of the Cougars.
In the fourth, the Eagles continued to inch closer to the Cougars.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) double and scored on a single from
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot). UNW trailed 5-3.
After going scoreless in the fifth, UNW's big inning came in the sixth.
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) and
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit back-to-back doubles to score a run.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) hit an RBI single to tie the game.
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin), who has become a real offensive weapon as a pinch hitter late in games for the Eagles, entered the game and delivered yet another clutch hit. This time it was a single that scored Bentley. The Eagles, after trailing 5-0, had come all the way back to take the lead 6-5.
The suspense has been ruined because we already said Strubbe didn't allow another run in the game. She retired the final six Morris batters in the sixth and seventh so slam the door for the 6-5 win.
Up Next
The top four teams in the UMAC Softball standings are Minnesota-Morris, Bethany Lutheran, Wisconsin-Superior, and Northwestern. The Eagles have just played Morris and Bethany Lutheran in consecutive series… guess who they play next? That's correct, UNW travels to take on Superior on the road for three games starting on Friday, April 26
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