GRAND FORKS, N.D. – For the first time since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2013, the University of North Dakota softball team has earned a trip to the Big Sky Softball Tournament after earning a 4-0 win in the first game of a doubleheader against Southern Utah on Friday afternoon at the Apollo Sports Complex.
The Thunderbirds ended up taking game two of the doubleheader, 8-5, to force a split on the day. North Dakota improves to 22-30 on the season with an 8-11 mark in conference play, and is now guaranteed to finish no lower than tied for sixth in the conference standings. UND currently sits in fifth in the Big Sky.
Entering the weekend series needing just one win to clinch a postseason berth, the Fighting Hawks got to work early on the Thunderbirds.
Victoria Minor connected on the first pitch she faced to lead things off for UND in the bottom of the first inning. North Dakota ended up scoring three runs on four hits in the frame to take the early lead.
The Fighting Hawks then added a final run in the fifth as Marina Marzolino connected for her third RBI of the contest to score Taylor Nadler.
The win marked the fifth shutout of the season for Kaylin VanDomelen, who also improved her Big Sky leading strikeout total to 162 on the season.
In the second game North Dakota got on the board first, scoring a lone run in the bottom of the second inning after the Thunderbirds committed two errors.
However, Southern Utah ended its scoring drought in the top of the third inning. The Thunderbirds connected on seven hits to score five runs. Southern Utah then extended its lead to 8-1, scoring three runs off three hits in the fifth inning.
North Dakota tried to get a rally going in the bottom of the sixth as the Fighting Hawks cut into their deficit. UND put up four runs on six hits and one errors to bring the score to 8-5. Unfortunately, Southern Utah was able to stop the bleeding and salvage the doubleheader split.
Marzolino recorded one hit and one RBI in the second game to extend her hitting and RBI streak to four games. The sophomore has six hits and nine RBI's in that span.
North Dakota concludes the regular season with a third game against Southern Utah tomorrow at 1 p.m. (CT).
