Long balls help BU complete series sweep over Saints
The Bellevue University softball team registered six home runs, including three by Erin Sharpe, as the Bruins completed the series sweep over Presentation College with a pair of run-rule victories Saturday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association play at Roy Smith Field. BU won by scores of 9-0 and 11-2, both ending in five innings.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bellevue University softball team registered six home runs, including three by Erin Sharpe, as the Bruins completed the series sweep over Presentation College with a pair of run-rule victories Saturday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association play at Roy Smith Field. BU won by scores of 9-0 and 11-2, both ending in five innings.
The Bruins improved to 35-16 overall and remain in second place in the NSAA standings at 17-5. Presentation fell to 4-34 overall and 3-19 in league play.
Bellevue will travel to Madison, S.D. on Wed., April 24, for a 4 p.m. NSAA doubleheader at Dakota State University.
Game 1: Bellevue 9, Presentation 0 (5 innings)
The Bruins racked up 12 hits while using a six-run fourth inning and the dominant pitching performance of Brieanna Brock to record the 9-0 shutout in the opener.
Erin Sharpe went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs to lead the BU offense. Ellie Bliemeister finished 3-for-3 and scored two runs. Maddie Siedlik went 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Sharpe launched a two-run homer to center to give the Bruins an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. She registered her 22nd homer of the season, a solo shot to center to make it 3-0 in the bottom of the third.
An RBI single to center by Siedlik extended the Bruin advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth frame. Five-straight two-out singles led to three more BU runs in the inning, capped by a two-run single to center by Kaitlyn Kinman. BU also scored two runs following a fielding error by PC third baseman Sierra Kilmer to give the Bruins a 9-0 advantage after four innings of play.
Brock improved to 12-2 on the season, allowing just two hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts in five innings of work.
Game 2: Bellevue 11, Presentation 2 (5 innings)
The Bruins pounded out 15 hits including four home runs en route to the 11-2 victory in the nightcap.
Sharpe, Bliemeister, Kinman, and Emily Rochford all produced home runs in the five-inning win.
Bliemeister finished 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs in the win. Bliemeister was 6-for-6 on the day. Sharpe went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Kinman finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a home run. Rochford and Lauren Jurek each drove in two runs as well.
An RBI single to right field by Kilmer gave the Saints an early 1-0 edge in the top of the first inning.
The Bruins responded in the bottom of the first with back-to-back homers by Bliemeister and Sharpe to give BU a 2-1 advantage.
The Saints tied the contest at 2-2 in the top of the second, scoring on an RBI single to center field by Jadwyn Parrish that plated Darrian Gibson, who led off the inning with a double down the left-field line.
BU regained the lead in the bottom of the second on Bliemeister's RBI single to center field, giving the Bruins a 3-2 edge.
After Jurek drove in a run on an RBI single to center field, Kelsey Arnold stole home to give BU a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Bruins exploded for six runs on seven hits in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a three-run home run to center field by Kinman and a two-run bomb to left field by Emily Rochford, to extend the BU lead to 11-2.
Jurek (3-0) picked up the win in the circle, replacing Rochford for the final three innings of the contest. She did not allow a run while scattering three hits with two walks and one strikeout.