ST. PAUL, Minn.- Bird lovers were in luck on Tuesday afternoon because the University of Northwestern Eagles took on the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons in a doubleheader at Reynolds Field. In all seriousness, bird lovers would not have actually been entertained at all. Because those birds just happen to be the mascots of the schools and there no actual birds flying around. However, softball lovers actually were in luck on Tuesday afternoon because the Eagles hosted a competitive nonconference team from a strong conference for two games. UNW dropped the opener 5-1 but responded with a dominant 11-0 victory in the finale.
For clarification purposes, Northwestern "hosted" Wisconsin-River Falls at Reynolds Field but the Eagles actually served as the visitors on the scoreboard for the duration of the two contests. The games were originally scheduled to take place on the River Falls campus but were moved to the Twin Cities due to field conditions across the border in the Badger State. However, the Falcons remained as the home team despite playing on the Eagles' turf and UNW took their cuts in the top half of the innings and UWRF came up to the plate in the bottom of the frames.
Game One
Game one of the doubleheader was a low scoring affair as the Eagles struggled to string base runners together and create scoring opportunities.
UNW had a tough task in game one, going up against the Falcons' top pitcher who got the start in the circle. The Eagles went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first which set the tone for a difficult offensive contest for the "visiting" team.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) got the nod in the circle for UNW and struck out the first batter she faced in the bottom of the first. However, the Falcons responded with three straight singles and used a passed ball and a stolen base to string together a pair of runs in the opening frame. A 4-6-3 double play ended the inning.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) collected UNW's first hit of the game with one out in the second and proceeded to steal second base. She would be stranded there as the Eagles wouldn't score in the second. In the "home half" of the second, a two out River Falls triple brought in another run. Northwestern trailed 3-0 after two innings.
Both teams went down in order in the third inning. Heffron pitched her best frame, inducing three ground balls to hold the Falcons off the scoreboard.
In the fourth,
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit a two out double but wouldn't advance past second base as the Eagles were still held scoreless. The Falcons cashed in on an Eagle error in the fourth to score an unearned run and UNW's deficit grew to four.
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) got a hit for UNW in the fifth, but once again the Eagles were unable to string hits together to bring her home to score.
Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover) entered the circle for the Eagles out of the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the fifth and gave up a single but no runs in the inning.
In the top of the sixth, UNW finally broke through on the scoreboard.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian), the reigning UMAC and NCCAA Player of the Week, hit a lead off single and
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) moved her over to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Later in the inning, with two outs, Iverson came up to the plate. She went the other way with a pitch on the outer part of the plate and delivered a single to left field which brought Lane around to score. UNW trailed 4-1.
UW-River Falls would get that run back in the home half of the sixth, scoring on an RBI single. Summers made a great throw home to
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) to cut down another run trying to score on the play. UNW would not rally in the seventh and lost the opener 5-1.
Game Two
Entering Tuesday's doubleheader, it had been well documented that UNW Softball was on an offensive tear for the ages. In the previous six games before they played River Falls, the Eagles had scored a nearly unthinkable 107 runs over that undefeated stretch. That is nearly 18 runs per game.
When UNW's offense was stifled in the opener against the Falcons, it was a strange sight to behold because their offense had been so potent coming into the game. In the second game of the doubleheader, the fans at Reynolds Field saw the Eagles get back to their high scoring ways.
UNW's record breaking offense woke up in game two and it started right away in the top of the first inning.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) started the game with a single and a steal of second base. The next two batters were retired before the Eagles' worked some two out magic.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) drew a walk and
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) drilled a double to the wall in left centerfield. Lane came around to score and Iverson was held up at third base. Iverson would be stranded at third, but UNW had taken a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles' offense kept on humming in the second frame. The first two batters were retired, but once again UNW went to work with two outs. This time, the result was much more than one run. With two outs:
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) walked,
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) singled,
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) walked,
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) walked bringing in a run, a wild pitch scored Lane, and Iverson once again went the other way for an RBI single. When the side was finally retired, the Eagles had added three runs with every single base runner coming after there were already two outs in the inning. UNW led 4-0.
While UNW's offense was breaking out in a big way,
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) (the Eagles' starting pitcher) was dealing in the circle. She gave up one hit on her way to pitching a scoreless first and she followed that up with a 1-2-3 second inning.
The middle innings were dominated by the pitchers in the circle. After a hot start, the Eagles went down scoreless in the third and fourth. Strubbe continued to look like she was on cruise control, giving up a hit in the third and pitching another 1-2-3 frame in the fourth on her way to shutting out the Falcons through four.
The Eagles had a four run lead entering the fifth inning, but because of the quality of their opponent, the game still felt like it was in the balance. That feeling went away in the top of the fifth. UNW absolutely busted the game wide open with a seven run inning. It started with back-to-back extra base hits (
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) hit a triple followed by a
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) double which brought Keith in to score).
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Summers over to third base. Gee hit an RBI single up the middle before Lane and Beer each reached base to load them up.
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) entered the game as a pinch hitter and drew an RBI walk. Iverson continued her monster day with another run scoring hit, this time a two run single. The Falcons made a pitching change and
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice) pinch ran for Iverson. Henning stole second base before
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) hit a two run single.
Strubbe pitched another 1-2-3 frame, finishing it off with a strikeout, to end the game with the Eagles emerging victorious at 11-0.
Strubbe picked up her fifth win of the season and was dominant all game long. She pitched a complete game, going five innings, giving up two hits, three walks, and striking out three batters.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) lived up to her player of the week status in this contest, going 3-4 and scoring three runs.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) was on base four times, going 2-2 and adding two walks. She drove in three runs in the game.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) was 2-4 with three runs batted in and
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) was on base three times picking up a hit and drawing two walks. She scored twice.
Up Next
After a quick jaunt outside of the UMAC, the Eagles are scheduled to jump back into conference play this weekend. They will host Northland College for a three game series at Reynolds Field starting on Friday, April 12
th and concluding with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 13
th. The game on Friday is scheduled for a 4:00 PM start.
