SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The University of North Dakota softball team split a pair of games on Saturday to move to 2-2 through a pair of days in the San Diego Classic. The Fighting Hawks (6-12) dropped the day's opener, 9-0, to Long Beach State before rallying for a 3-2 win over host-San Diego to conclude the night.
Long Beach State 9, North Dakota 0
The 49ers avenged a 2-1 defeat last season to the Fighting Hawks by striking for six runs in the first two innings to roll past North Dakota, 9-0, in the first game of the evening.
UND managed to only pick up four hits offensively on a pair of Long Beach pitchers, while the Hawks struggled in the circle with
Lexi Flom and
Madi Moore allowing six and three runs, respectively.
With Long Beach State leading 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, UND had its moment to climb back into the contest with a rally in the frame by loading the bases with no outs; however, the Hawks couldn't get any runs home to cut into the deficit.
The 49ers added three more runs in the top of the seventh to collect the 9-0 victory.
North Dakota 3, San Diego 2
Ashlynn Uvila brought home a pair of runs with a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate to held lead North Dakota to a 3-2 win over San Diego in the Saturday night finale.
The junior continues to dominate pitching in San Diego with her second multi-RBI in the last three games by driving home the go-ahead run in both the fifth and sixth innings to help UND collect its first win over USD in program history.
Angel Love and
Dani Romero were also key to the comeback win for the Hawks, combining for four hits, two runs scored, and an RBI to help the Hawks turn a 1-0 deficit to the 2-1 advantage in the fifth.
Jannay Jones pitched her second straight compete game, allowing 10 hits and two runs while striking out a pair of hitters to collect her second straight victory and move to 3-6 on the season.
With San Diego leading 1-0 heading to the top of the fifth, Love smacked a triple with one out before Romero brought her home with an RBI single to center to tie the game at one. Uvila followed with a double to left field to score Romero and put UND in front, 2-1, for the first time on the evening.
The hosts answered back with a run in the bottom half of the fifth, but UND jumped in front in the next half frame with some timely hitting with two outs. Love started the rally with a single before Romero followed with single to right field to move Love to third and place runners on the corner for Uvila. The junior came through again with a single to left field to score Love and restore the advantage for the Hawks, 3-2, heading to the final inning of play.
San Diego placed a runner on first with a single, but UND turned a 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam and hold on for the 3-2 win.
North Dakota closes the weekend with a showdown against former Big Sky Conference opponent Weber State on Sunday afternoon.
