Bruins open NSAA play with sweep over Comets

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- The Bellevue University softball team opened North Star Athletic Association play on Friday with a doubleheader sweep over Mayville State, winning 3-1 and 7-4. The twin-bill was part of the NSAA Crossover Classic being played at the Presentation College Dome.

Bellevue improved to 5-2 overall with the sweep and 2-0 in the NSAA. MSU dropped to 0-6 on the season and 0-2 in league play. 

The Bruins will continue action at the tournament on Saturday (Feb. 25) with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against 21st-ranked Dickinson State University.

Game 1: Bellevue 3, Mayville State 1

Kelli Fisher tossed a two-hitter and the Bruins scored two runs in the top of the seventh to pull out a 3-1 win in the opener. Hannah Carter went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two doubles to lead the BU offense. 

Neither team scored until Carter led off the third inning with a double to center field and was driven in by Emily Miller's RBI single to left, giving BU a 1-0 advantage. 

Three-consecutive BU fielding errors helped the Comets tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth frame. 

The Bruins quickly responded in the top of the seventh with an RBI double to left by Carter and a one-run single to center by Emily Gigax, giving BU a 3-1 lead. 

Fisher retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the 3-1 opening-game win.  

Fisher improved to 4-1 on the season, allowing just two hits, while striking out 11 batters with no walks in seven innings in the circle. Shaye Kemball suffered the loss, giving up 11 hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.  

Game 2: Bellevue 7, Mayville State 4

Maddie Siedlik went 3-for-3 with a home run, a double and three RBIs and Emily Miller finished 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, and two RBIs to lead the Bruin offense to the 7-4 win in the nightcap. 

Bellevue outhit the Comets, 12-8, including seven extra-base hits. 

The Bruins got out of the gate quickly, scoring three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first, including an RBI triple by Emily Miller and consecutive one-run doubles to center field by Gigax and Siedlik. 

Back-to-back homers by Siedlik and Kaitlyn Kinman doubled the BU lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the third inning. 

A one-run double to center by Megan Rabe and a sacrifice fly to center by Danielle Sheridan sliced the BU lead to 6-2 in the top of the fourth stanza. 

Kiana Ishikawa's RBI triple and a one-run single by Lauren Coronado brought the Comets to within two runs at 6-4 in the top of the fifth. 

The Bruins got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single to left by Emily Miller that increased the BU lead to 7-4.

Lexi LeCalsey (1-0) earned the win, scattering three hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings of work. Erin Sharpe got her first save of the season when she did not allow a hit and struck out one batter in the final two innings of the contest.