Doane sweeps Bellevue in softball doubleheader
Bellevue falls 8-3, 6-3 at Doane ... Emily Gigax and Emily Miller record home runs.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
CRETE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University softball team dropped a pair of non-conference games Tuesday at Doane College, falling 8-3 in the opener and 6-3 in the nightcap.
Bellevue fell to 8-12 on the season with the two losses. Doane improved to 11-6 overall.
The Bruins will begin conference play this weekend when BU plays a pair of games against Dakota State University and Dickinson State University on Friday and Saturday, March 25-26 in Madison, S.D.
Game 1: Doane 8, Bellevue 3
The Tigers used two big innings to notch an 8-3 win in the opener. Doane outhit the Bruins 9-7 and took advantage of two Bruin fielding errors.
Doane took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a two-run triple down the left field line by Kelsey Bernhardt.
Bellevue sliced the lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth on a solo homer to left field by Emily Gigax.
Doane extended the lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on four hits and a Bruin fielding error.
The Bruins scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, on an RBI single to right center field by Gigax and on a sacrifice fly to center field by Kayla Young, making the final, 8-3.
Gigax finished the game, 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a home run.
Erin Sharpe (2-5) suffered the loss, scattering nine hits while striking out four and walking none in six innings of work.
Ellie Doughty (5-3) earned the win, allowing just three hits, while striking out seven in five innings in the circle.
Game 2: Doane 6, Bellevue 3
Doane broke a 3-3 tie, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth en route to a 6-3 win in the nightcap, completing the doubleheader sweep.
Doane took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single to right field by Taylor Helton. The Tigers made it 3-0 in the bottom of the third after scoring on a Bruin throwing error by catcher Sayde Woten and on a suicide squeeze by Sam Valadez.
A two-run homer to left center field by Emily Miller cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the fourth frame.
The Bruins tied the contest at 3-3 with an RBI single to center field by Young in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Tigers recaptured the lead in the bottom of the sixth, plating three runs to take a 6-3 advantage. Doane scored on an RBI single to left field by Helton and on an RBI double to right center field by Jordan Van Roy. Van Roy later scored on a wild pitch by Bruin starter Kelli Fisher.
Fisher (6-7) took the loss, allowing nine hits with one strikeout and one walk in six complete innings.
Morgan Ulrich (2-0) recorded the win after replacing Carly Shniderson in the top of the fifth. Ulrich allowed just one hit, while recording a pair of strikeouts and no walks in 2.1 innings of work.