BU advances to championship series with 14-inning marathon win over VU
The second-seeded Bellevue University softball team advanced to the best-of-three championship series of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament with a marathon, 3-2, victory over Viterbo University in 14 innings Friday afternoon at the VCSU Softball Complex.
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VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- The second-seeded Bellevue University softball team advanced to the best-of-three championship series of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament with a marathon, 3-2, victory over Viterbo University in 14 innings Friday afternoon at the VCSU Softball Complex.
For the second consecutive game, Ashley Young produced the walk-off RBI single to win the contest.
It marked the longest game in BU post-season history and tied for fifth all-time in NAIA post-season contests.
It was also the Bruins' second-straight extra-inning contest against the V-Hawks as BU downed Viterbo, 4-3, in 10 innings Thursday afternoon.
The Bruins have now won 14-straight games, improving to 44-16 on the season. Viterbo ends its season at 17-30. Bellevue will face either top-seeded Valley City State or fourth-seeded Dickinson State in the championship series beginning on Saturday at a time to be determined.
The V-Hawks capitalized on two BU fielding errors in the top of the first inning, plating a pair of runs to grab an early 2-0 advantage.
The Bruins did not threaten until the bottom of the sixth inning when Kaitlyn Kinman and Kelsey Arnold drove in back-to-back runs with two-out RBI singles to tie the contest at 2-2.
After consecutive singles by Randi Henry and Ashlyn Teran in the top of the 14th, Erin Sharpe earned a walk on a 12-pitch at-bat to load the bases with one out, setting up Ashley Young's game-winning walk-off RBI single to center that scored pinch-runner Kayla Lehigh for the victory.
Monique Ashley (19-7) earned her third-straight victory of the tournament. She replaced Sharpe in the top of the 13th, inducing a flyout and a strikeout to get the Bruins out of a jam. Ashley did not allow a hit or a walk while striking out three in the final 1 2/3 innings of the contest.
Sharpe did not allow an earned run in 12 1/3 innings pitched, scattering 10 hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts.
Caitlyn Kozik (10-9), who threw 211 pitches, was tagged with the loss. She allowed just one earned run while scattering 13 hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings in the circle.