GRAND FORKS, N.D. – It was another solid day of hitting and pitching for the UND softball team, as the Fighting Hawks finished off the regular season with a 6-0 win over Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon at the Apollo Sports Complex.
With the win UND finishes the regular season with a program-best 9-11 mark in Big Sky Conference action and a 23-30 overall record. The 23 wins is the second most in program history.
UND will head to the Big Sky Softball Championship Tournament for the first time next weekend. Weber State won the rights to host the tournament in Ogden, Utah, but UND will have to wait for the result of the Sacramento State-Portland State contest for its seeding. North Dakota will take the No. 4 seed if Portland State wins, or the No. 5 seed if Sacramento State wins.
Junior Hannah Bergh threw her seventh complete game and third shutout of the season in the game-three win against the Thunderbirds. Bergh struck out five batters in the contest and gave up only eight hits.
Victoria Minor got things going early for UND, leading off with her first career triple on just the second pitch she faced. Rachael Waynick followed up with a single to right field to score Minor. Kaylin VanDomelen stepped up, swung at the first offer and hit her eighth home run of the season to give UND a 3-0 lead after just six pitches.
Southern Utah's pitching recovered after the early concessions and kept UND from further scoring until the fifth inning.
The Fighting Hawks put together four hits in the bottom of the fifth to score three more runs. VanDomelen led off with a first-pitch double before reaching third on a wild pitch. Mary Martin later hit a single to center field to drive home VanDomelen. Natalie Gerber entered to pinch run for Martin and she got a free pass to second on a passed ball. Marina Marzolino then hit a double to left field to score Gerber and to extend her hitting streak to five games.
Senior Autumn Cervantez finished off the scoring with a single to right field to score Marzoliono and put UND up 6-0.
North Dakota will head to Ogden, Utah for the Big Sky Softball Championship next weekend, May 11-13. The tournament features the league's top-six teams facing-off in a double-elimination bracket.
