Offense comes alive as BU salvages split
Erin Sharpe went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and six RBIs to pace the BU offense in the nightcap. Kelli Fisher picked up her 22nd win of the season.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
NSAA Standings
BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University softball team saw its offense come alive in the nightcap as the Bruins managed a split with Viterbo University Sunday afternoon in a North Star Athletic Association doubleheader at the Lied Activity Center. The Bruins were shut out in the opener, 3-0, before rebounding with a 12-1 win in five innings in the second game.
Bellevue moved to 37-12 on the season with the split and 16-6 in the NSAA. Viterbo is now 18-26 overall and 15-7 in league play.
The Bruins return to action on Tuesday, April 25 when they host Hastings College in a 4 p.m. non-conference doubleheader at the Lied Center.
Game 1: Viterbo 3, Bellevue 0
The pitching combination of Caitlyn Kozik and Sarah Obert stymied the Bruin offense as the V-Hawks shutout BU, 3-0, in the opener. The Bruins managed just four hits in the loss.
The V-Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a bases-loaded hit batsmen by BU starter Lexi LeCalsey. Hannah Ludescher led off the top of the fifth with a solo homer to center field to extend the VU lead to 2-0.
A solo shot over the left field fence by Obert made it 3-0 in the top of the sixth frame.
LeCalsey (8-5) was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings.
Kozik (5-5) earned the win, scattering two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in four innings of work. Obert also allowed just two hits with no walks and a strikeout in three innings in the circle.
Game 2: Bellevue 12, Viterbo 1
After three games that saw the Bruins produce just one run against the V-Hawks, the BU offense erupted for 12 runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, en route to the 12-1 win in the nightcap.
Erin Sharpe went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and six RBIs to pace the BU offense.
The V-Hawks took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first with an RBI single by Elli Anderson down the left-field line.
The Bruins responded in the bottom of the first with three runs, highlighted by a two-run single down the left-field line by Sharpe.
A three-run homer by Emily Miller, a solo homer by Courtney Schendt, along with an RBI single by Maddie Siedlik and a one-run double by Sharpe extended the BU advantage to 9-1 in the bottom of the second.
Sharpe blasted a three-run shot over the center-field fence to give the Bruins a 12-1 edge.
Kelli Fisher (22-4) picked up her 22nd win of the season, scattering five hits with no walks and two strikeouts in five innings in the circle.