GRAND FORKS, N.D. ? On the second day of the 2009 Division I Independent Softball Tournament in Greeley, Colo., the University of North Dakota fell in a 9-0 shutout to Seattle and was later handed a 9-2 loss against Northern Colorado.
The Fighting Sioux will now play in Sunday's fifth-place game at 9:30 a.m. against the loser between Seattle and Cal State Bakersfield. That game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Butler-Hancock Field.
In the first game of the day, Seattle (15-20) held UND (9-32) to just five hits ? all of them singles. Against Northern Colorado (18-28), the Sioux posted eight hits with a double and a homerun.
Freshman Maggie O'Neal (Overland Park, Minn.) batted .500 (2-for-4) on the day with a run scored. Senior Nicole Puerling (Camarillo, Calif.) hit UND's lone homerun with a solo out of right center in the third inning of game two and freshman Angie Delgado (Irvine, Calif.) hit her first career double in the sixth inning against the Bears.
Game one went to the Redhawks' Hannah Klein (8-9) who registered her third shutout of the season. Starting pitcher freshman Erica Younan (Chico, Calif.) took the loss for UND after three innings in the circle. She is now 3-15 on the season with a 6.70 ERA.
Melisa Ryba (3-3) grabbed the win for UNC in the second game with four strikeouts. Junior Shelly Wolf (Lakeville, Minn.) was handed the loss for UND after five innings of work. Wolf dropped to 2-5 on the season with a 2.62 ERA.
SU 9, UND 0
Seattle University quickly gained control of the game with four runs off of three singles and a triple. The Redhawks posted three more in the top of the third inning on another trio of singles and the final two runs of the game were scored in the fourth inning on a double to right field.
Seven batters reached base for the Sioux, but none were able to advance further than second base.
UNC 9, UND 2
North Dakota trailed 5-0 heading into the top of the third inning as Northern Colorado was able to post three runs in the opening inning and another two in the second. Two of the Bears' runs in the first inning were scored on a centerfield home run and Ryba was credited the both runs in the second after a triple to right center scored the runners on first and second.
In the top of the third inning, Puerling hammered her 25th career home run over the right center fence to put UND on the board.
The Bears put the game at 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth and then increased the lead to 8-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning.
The Sioux scored again in the top of the sixth when junior Abby Rehberger (Brainerd, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to advance O'Neal.
UNC equalized in the bottom of the stanza with a run scored on a wild pitch to bring the game to the eventual 9-2 score.
-GoSioux!-
NOTES: Nicole Puerling in now tied with Karen Crane (2003-06) as the most walked player in UND softball history. They sit at No. 1 with 59 walks ... Puerling is also fourth all-time in runs scored with 86 and fifth in games played with 185 ... Abby Rehberger is now eighth in runs batted in with 58 ... Erica Younan is now tied with Lisa Zaleschuk at No. 4 in freshman strikeouts with 84.
