Bruins clinch NSAA regular season title with sweep over WU
Erin Sharpe added to her nation-leading home run total while also tossing a no-hitter as the 25th-ranked Bellevue University softball team clinched the North Star Athletic Association regular-season title.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
FOREST, City -- Iowa -- Erin Sharpe added to her nation-leading home run total while also tossing a no-hitter as the 25th-ranked Bellevue University softball team clinched the North Star Athletic Association regular-season title with a doubleheader sweep at Waldorf University Saturday at Al Buckley Field.
Bellevue won by scores of 7-2 and 9-0. The Bruins, who have now won nine-straight games, improved to 45-12 overall and 20-6 in the NSAA. Waldorf fell to 15-27 on the season and 7-19 in league play.
The Bruins earned the top seed for the NSAA Tournament, which will be played in Dickinson, N.D. on May 5-8. Times and pairings will be announced on Monday.
Game 1: Bellevue 7, Waldorf 2
Sharpe and Maddie Siedlik combined to drive in five runs as the Bruins outhit WU, 11-5, and Kelli Fisher picked up her 27th win of the season as BU took the opener, 7-2.
Siedlik finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Sharpe went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs. Hannah Carter was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs.
A two-run homer by Sharpe to right center field gave the Bruins an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Siedlik doubled the lead to 4-0 in the top of the third with a two-run double to center field.
BU added another two runs in the fifth on an RBI single through the left side by Siedlik and on an RBI double to left by Emily Gigax, increasing the advantage to 6-0.
The Warriors took advantage of three BU fielding errors in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two unearned runs to slice the lead to 6-2.
An RBI single through the left side by Kaitlyn Kinman gave the Bruins a 7-2 lead in the top of the sixth frame.
Fisher (27-4) earned the win, allowing five hits and no earned runs or walks, while striking out two batters in seven innings of work.
Kaylie Brindley (9-13) was tagged with the loss, giving up six hits and four runs with one walk and three strikeouts in four innings in the circle.
Game 2: Bellevue 9, Waldorf 0
Sharpe tossed her first career no-hitter while the Bruins belted 11 hits in the 9-0 shutout victory in the nightcap.
Sharpe and Siedlik once again led the BU offense as each drove in two runs and both produced home runs in the win.
After leading off the game with a triple to left center, Carter scored on a wild pitch, while Sharpe homered to left field to give BU a 2-0 edge in the top of the first inning. It was Sharpe's 26th home run of the season.
The Bruins pushed the lead to 7-0 in the third, highlighted by an RBI single through the left side by Sharpe, a two-run homer to left field by Siedlik, and an RBI double down the right field line by Michaela Miller.
An RBI single to left field by Gigax extended the margin to 8-0 in the top of the fourth and Kinman's bases-loaded ground-out RBI made it 9-0 in the fifth.
Sharpe improved to 10-1 on the season as she did not allow a walk or a hit while striking out four batters.