Bruins win 2-of-3 on Day 4 of Spring Games

Williams Woods Box Score
Cleary Box Score
Trinity International Box Score

CLERMONT, Fla. -- The Bellevue University softball team won 2-of-3 games Thursday in their fourth day of competition at the PFX Spring Games. The Bruins opened the day with an 8-1 win over William Woods. They saw their five-game winning streak snapped in a 7-3 loss to Cleary. BU ended the day with a 9-1 victory over Trinity International.  

The Bruins are now 12-8 overall and are 7-5 at the Spring Games. 

BU will conclude play at the Spring Games on Friday (March 8) with an 8 a.m. contest against Spring Arbor and a 12:30 p.m. battle with Carlow. 

Bellevue 8, William Woods 1

Bellevue pounded out 14 hits and Brieanna Brock held the Owls to just three hits as BU cruised to the 8-1 victory in the opener. Brock allowed one walk while striking out three in the complete-game victory, improving to 4-1 on the season. 

The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI line-drive single to center field by Kaitlyn Kinman. The Owls quickly responded in the bottom of the first, tying the game at 1-1 on Emma Walker's RBI double to center field. 

After Walker's double, Brock retired 12-straight batters and WWU never threatened to score the remainder of the contest as no Owl advanced past second base. 

Bellevue regained the lead in the top of the fourth, scoring on an RBI single to left field by Ashlyn Teran to take a 2-1 advantage. BU expanded the margin to 4-1 after plating a pair of runs thanks to an Owl fielding error by center fielder Walker.  

BU added four runs in the top of the sixth, highlighted by a two-run double to right field by Ellie Bliemeister and an RBI single to center by Lauren Jurek, to push the final advantage to 8-1. 

Cleary 7, Bellevue 3

The Cougars used a five-run fourth inning en route to the 7-3 victory over BU in the second contest of the day. 

Sierra Newcomb's RBI single to left field gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the top of the second frame. CU made it 6-0 in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs on a bases-loaded fielding error by Kinman and two more on a two-run double to center by Kelly Schram. 

A bases-loaded walk to Ashley Young got the Bruins on the board in the bottom of the fifth, slicing the lead to 6-1. The Bruins, however, who had bases loaded with no outs could not manage to plate another run in the inning after CU replaced starting pitcher Megan Robinette with Natalie O'Reilly. 

The Cougars added a seventh run in the top of the sixth, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlin Dormire that scored Hannah Benner from third.  

The Bruins made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on Erin Sharpe's RBI double to left field and on a CU fielding error to slice the margin to 7-3 before O'Reilly induced a groundout to second base by Jurek to end the contest. 

Emily Rochford (1-1) was tagged with the loss, scattering six hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of work. BU was plagued by three fielding errors as Rochford did not allow an earned run in the contest. 

Bellevue 9, Trinity International 1 (5 innings)

The Bruins outhit TIU 10-3 en route to the 9-1 victory over the Trojans in the nightcap. Sharpe, Teran, and Ashley Young all produced two hits in the win. Sharpe scored four runs, while seven different Bruins drove in runs. 

The Trojans struck early with an RBI triple to right field by Brooke Heraty that gave TIU a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. 

Bellevue responded in the bottom of the first, scoring on RBI singles from Kayla Young and Grace Glotfelty as BU took a 2-1 advantage. 

The Bruins added two more runs in the second when Sharpe scored from third off a passed ball and on an RBI single to center field by Ashley Young to make it 4-1.

The lead increased to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth after Kinman's groundout RBI and Ashley Young's run-scoring single to right field. 

The Bruins ended the game in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs on an RBI single to right by Bleimiester, a one-run triple to right by Sharpe and a groundout RBI by Teran that pushed the margin to eight runs at 9-1. 

Monique Ashley (5-4) picked up the win as she did not allow a hit while striking out four in the final three innings in relief.