Bellevue edges Waldorf in NSAA twin bill
Aaron Schneider
BELLEVUE, Nebraska – Bellevue University edged the Waldorf University softball team in the opening two games of a four-game North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) series on Saturday.
The Bruins (13-13, 5-1) fought to a 2-1 victory during the opener and completed the sweet with a 9-5 win in the second game.
“The girls played pretty well,” Waldorf coach Lexy Determan said. “In the first game, it was one bloop hit for them that changed the game.”
Senior Jessica Abrahamson went 1-for-3 at the plate with a triple for the Warriors (7-15, 3-3) in Game 1. Junior Ashton May contributed an RBI single, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Senior Andrea Hartmann turned in a 2-for-3 performance. Sophomore Hattie Hupke and senior Maggie Hawley added singles.
Bellevue’s Sayde Woten connected for a two-run double. Emily Miller provided a 2-for-2 performance with a double. Erin Sharpe and Alex Tooley contributed singles.
Kelli Fisher (10-8) earned the win. She struck out five batters and allowed one run on seven hits in seven innings.
Hartmann (1-4) was handed the loss. She fanned four batters, walked four and yielded two runs while scattering five hits in six innings.
“Andrea found a way to keep their hitters off balance,” Determan said. “They had very few hard hits, but just found a few more holes than we did.”
Emily Miller led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk for the Bruins. Sharpe followed with a single. A sacrifice bunt from Kayla Young moved runners into scoring position. Tooley drew a walk to load the bases. The Warriors recorded the second out of the inning with a force at home plate. Woten responded, knocking a two-run double to put Bellevue on the board.
Abrahamson led off the top of the seventh with a triple. Fisher retired the next two batters. May singled in Abrahamson to pull the Warriors within one run, but Fisher struck out the final batter to seal the victory.
Senior Kaitlin Murphy and Hupke each went 2-for-4 with an RBI double during the second contest. Abrahamson delivered a 2-for-4 performance. Senior Maggie Eden, sophomores Briley Sullivan and Taylor Bell each contributed singles.
Emily Miller paced the Bruins, going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs while Emily Gigax provided a 2-for-2 performance with an RBI double. Young drove in three runs, finishing 1-for-3 at the plate. Sharpe smacked a two-run double. Bellevue collected 10 hits.
Sharpe (3-5) notched the win. She fanned five batters, walked two and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits in four innings.
Fisher recorded her second save of the season, striking out three batters and giving up one run on four hits in three innings of work.
Hawley (1-4) was tagged with the loss. She tallied two strikeouts, issued three walks and surrendered four runs (three earned) on three hits in two innings.
Sullivan struck out a batter, walked one and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits in a three-inning relief appearance. Hartmann gave up a run on two hits while pitching the sixth inning.
Sharpe ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the first for the Bruins. Young later reached base on a dropped fly ball, allowing Sharpe to score on a sacrifice fly.
Emily Miller connected on a second-inning RBI single to extend Bellevue’s lead to 4-0.
Hupke cranked an RBI double in the third. The Bruins regained their four-run advantage later in the inning when Michaela Miller singled and Tooley crossed home plate following an error on the play.
May reached on an error in the fourth, bringing in Abrahamson to score. Emily Miller provided an RBI double to give Bellevue a 6-2 lead after four innings.
Hartmann added a fifth-inning RBI groundout. Murphy doubled in a run while Abrahamson produced an RBI single to narrow Waldorf’s deficit to one run.
The Bruins added three insurance runs in the sixth when Gigax singled in a run and Young belted a two-run double.
Waldorf proved it can contend with Bellevue, which currently sits a game behind Valley City State University (22-5, 6-0) for the top spot in the NSAA Standings. Valley City State is receiving votes in the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) poll.
“I know we can always hang with teams,” Determan said. “We just really need to find a way to bring the intensity for 14 full innings to find a way to beat these good teams.”
The Warriors close out their series with Bellevue on Sunday in an 11 a.m. twin bill.
“I was happy with the way the girls adjusted right away to the pitching,” Determan said. “There were still a few instances that we needed to be more aggressive at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position. However, I assume we will be facing the same two pitchers [on Sunday], so I hope we can keep making adjustments.”