BU earns hard-fought sweep at Dakota State
The Bellevue University softball team ran its winning streak to seven games on Wednesday with a hard-fought doubleheader sweep at Dakota State. BU won by scores of 4-2 and 8-7. Erin Sharpe picked up the save in each contest.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
MADISON, S.D. -- The Bellevue University softball team ran its winning streak to seven games on Wednesday with a hard-fought doubleheader sweep at Dakota State. BU won by scores of 4-2 and 8-7. Erin Sharpe picked up the save in each contest.
The Bruins improved to 37-16 overall with the sweep and 19-5 in the NSAA. DSU dropped to 8-31 on the season and 5-19 in league play.
BU will host Waldorf University in a four-game NSAA series this Saturday-Sunday, April 27-28. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday's twin-bill will commence at noon.
Game 1: Bellevue 4, Dakota State 2
An RBI double by Sharpe in the sixth and a solo homer by Grace Glotfelty in the seventh broke a 2-2 tie as the Bruins battled to a 4-2 win in the opener.
Bellevue outhit the Trojans, 13-8, in the victory.
Glotfelty finished 3-for-4 in the contest, while Sharpe and Ashlyn Teran both had a pair of hits.
Monique Ashley (13-7) picked up the win, scattering seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts in five innings of work. Sharpe earned her first save of the season, entering the game in the sixth inning. She allowed just one hit while striking out three in the final two innings.
Game 2: Bellevue 8, Dakota State 7
The Bruins survived a back-and-forth affair in the nightcap, escaping with an 8-7 victory. The Trojans responded in the bottom half of nearly every inning and outhit the Bruins, 14-12, to make things interesting.
Glotfelty, Sharpe, and Ashley Young each drove in two runs in the victory. Young finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs and three runs scored to pace the BU offense.
The Bruins took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring on RBI single by Young and a run-scoring double to right-center by Emily Rochford.
BU extended the lead to 4-0 in the top of the third on Glotfelty's two-run double down the left-field line.
DSU responded in the bottom of the third, scoring three two-out runs, on an RBI double to deep left-center by Nicole Stewart and a two-run double to left-center by Taylor Poe.
The Trojans tied the contest at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double down the left-field line by Quinn Motichka.
BU regained the lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer over the left-field by Young, to give the Bruins a 6-4 advantage.
Annalisa Ingui's RBI single to shallow right-center sliced the BU lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth.
The Bruins added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on Sharpe's two-run triple to deep right-center to extend the margin to 8-5.
Once again, the Trojans responded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a two-run single to left field by Tatum Ronke to cut the BU advantage to 8-7.
Sharpe did not allow a hit in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the one-run victory and earn her second save of the day.
Brieanna Brock (13-2) picked up the win, allowing nine hits and two earned runs, with one walk and three strikeouts in four innings in the circle. Sharpe scattered five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in the final three innings.