MANKATO, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Softball team played the top two seeds in the UMAC Postseason Tournament on Friday in Mankato. Having dropped their opening game on Thursday, the Eagles had no more margin for error. They needed to win both games to advance to the final day of the tournament on Saturday. #4 Northwestern eliminated #2 Minnesota-Morris with a convincing 11-1 victory but fell to #1 Bethany Lutheran 12-2 to be bounced from the UMAC Tournament.
Game One: #2 Minnesota-Morris
The Eagles put up six runs in the first two innings, didn't score any in the middle two innings, but scored five more in the final two innings to secure the season-extending win in only six frames.
UNW scored a pair of runs in the first after
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) hit a ground-rule double and scored on a
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) single. Beer scored on
Riley Summers' (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) double and the Eagles had an early 2-0 lead.
In the top half of the second, the first four UNW batters singled.
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) and
Allison Terry's (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) hits were bunt singles. Lane's single scored two runs. Beer picked up another RBI, this time from a sac fly, and
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) hit an RBI single. UNW led 6-0 after two frames.
After going scoreless in the third and fourth innings,
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian) extended the Eagles' lead in the fifth when she scored on
Gabrielle Keith's (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) sac fly.
The Eagles secured the win by scoring four insurance runs in the sixth. Summers, Bentley, and
Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) all contributed RBI singles to the cause.
In the circle,
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) pitched six innings and picked up her sixth win of the season. She only gave up one run and struck out five.
With the win, the Eagles ended the season of the Co-UMAC Regular Season Champion Cougars. UNW advanced to Friday's final game for a rematch with #1 Bethany Lutheran in an elimination game.
Game Two: #1 Bethany Lutheran
The Eagles scored the first two runs of the game but the top seeded Vikings responded with 12 unanswered runs to win the game 12-2 and end the Eagles' 2024 campaign.
However, despite the loss, UNW had two reasons to celebrate after their pair of runs they scored in the second inning. The runs came off of a two run home run by
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock). This was Keith's 10
th long ball of the season which means she has now hit more home runs in a single season than any other Eagle in program history. The previous record was set by Kristina Tokle in 2005.
Keith's home run also put the entire 2024 UNW Softball squad into the record books. The Eagles hit 22 home runs during the 2024 season which is the most in a single season by a team in program history. The 2004 squad (which Head Coach
Alicia du'Monceaux was a part of as a player) hit 21 home runs.
The Vikings used a big bottom of the second to propel themselves to the win. They scored nine runs in the frame. BLC added one in the third and two in the fourth on their way to a 12-2 win.
Season Recap
The Eagles finish the 2024 regular season at 22-17 and once again qualified for the UMAC Postseason Tournament. UNW finished as the fourth seed with a conference record of 12-6. With the conclusion of the season, the Eagles are saying goodbye to an incredible senior class of
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Marian),
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI),
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star), and
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin). These ladies excelled on and off the field at Northwestern and Head Coach
Alicia du'Monceaux and her staff bid them good luck in their future endeavors.
