GRAND FORKS, N.D. – A late rally by South Dakota State in the second game of the doubleheader, spoiled what could have been a picturesque day, minus the weather, for the University of North Dakota softball team. UND downed the Jackrabbits, 6-4, in the first game, before falling, 5-2, in eight innings on Wednesday afternoon.
In game one, UND fell behind, 1-0, after the second inning, but the North Dakota bats came alive in the third and fourth innings. With two outs and runners on the corners, Megan Keegan hit her first home run of the season to put UND up by two in the bottom of the third.
With a similar situation in the very next inning, UND scored two more runs, stemming from an error by the Jackrabbits. With two outs, an error by SDSU's pitcher Ashlyn Bender gave UND two runners on base. Amanda Johnson then followed up the mistake with a two-run, two-base shot to left field to put UND up 5-3.
In the top of the fifth, SDSU loaded the bases with one out and looked to tie the game or possibly take the lead. However, a big defensive play by Nicole Babrowski in centerfield quickly shot down any hopes for the Jackrabbits. Babrowski made a running grab to record a fly-out on SDSU's Sammy Bingham, and then made an even more impressive throw home for a double play, as Elizabeth Cudney made the tag to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, a sacrifice fly by Kim Granata gave Toni Schutte a path home to help UND secure the 6-4 lead.
“We created scoring opportunities and converted well,” head coach Eric Oakley said of his team's effort in the first game. “Keegan had a great shot in some tough conditions and our pitching and defense got us out of some jams. It was an all-around solid effort.”
North Dakota held a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth inning of the nightcap, but solo runs by SDSU in the top of the fifth and sixth innings, paired with key defensive plays in the seventh, sent the game into extra innings. The Jackrabbits posted three runs in the top of the eighth to force the split with UND.
Unlike the first game, North Dakota got on the board first in the second game. After a Jackrabbit error put UND runners on second and third with two outs, Caralyn Chewning hit her 42nd double of her career to score both Schutte and Autumn Cervantez.
Unfortunately, SDSU's Jennifer Sutton battled back in the circle, keeping UND scoreless for the rest of the game, eventually earning her fifth win of the season. SDSU out-hit UND 11-4 in the game, with the Sutton recording no earned runs against.
“We needed to be more aggressive earlier in the count,” Oakley said. “We hit some shot, and they made some good plays, but we had a costly error that resulted in giving up a key run.”
An error by UND in the top of the fifth inning, allowed SDSU's Bingham to advance to third base after hitting a single to center field. The error allowed Bingham to score on the next at-bat, and tie the game in an inning that UND could have come away from without conceding a run in.
“Chewning pitched extremely well, so it's disappointing that we didn't get the win for her today.”
Chewning pitched the complete game for UND in the nightcap, facing 36 batters through eight innings and striking out five SDSU batters. She only conceded four earned runs on the 11 Jackrabbit hits.
Freshman Megan Hedstrom pitched a complete game as well, going the distance in the first game of the doubleheader. Hedstrom struck out three, while giving up four runs on nine hits for her second win of her career.
North Dakota heads into its final series of the 2013 campaign, hosting Big Sky Conference rival Idaho State on Friday for a doubleheader, before finishing off the three-game series on Saturday. The first game on Friday is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
