ST. PAUL, Minn. – The North Dakota softball team fell to St. Thomas 10-2 across six innings on Thursday afternoon from South Field. NoDak drops to 27-23 and 4-11 in the Summit League, while the Tommies improve to 33-16 and 11-4 in conference play.
The Hawks were outhit by the Tommies 8-7, with the difference was converting those hits into runs. NoDak left 11 runners on base, compared to just two from St. Thomas.
Jaedyn Valdez and
Makenna Alexander each had two hits, with
Brooklyn Morris,
Taya Hopfauf and
Hailey Bethune each having one. Valdez recorded the lone RBI.
Tegan Livesay took the loss in the circle, dropping to 13-9 on the season. She allowed six earned runs on six hits and six walks, striking out four across five innings.
Unity Nelson came in for the sixth inning and allowed three runs on two hits and three walks in 0.1 innings.
How It Happened
The Hawks struck first off rip, courtesy of two walks and a hit. Following walks from Morris and Hopfauf in the inning, Valdez came through with a two-out RBI single to center field, bringing home Morris to take the 1-0 lead.
The Tommies responded with two in the bottom half, started by a leadoff walk from Laken Lienhard. Avery Wukawitz then came up to the plate and hit a sharp ball to shortstop that got by
Aleksia Severson and trickled all the way to the left center fence. Lienhard scored from first and Wukawitz came around to score from the plate for the inside the park home run, giving the Tommies a 2-1 lead.
UST tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the second on three hits. Kameron Monson started the inning off with a walk and was driven in thanks to a Grace Nosan two-run home run to left field, making it 4-1. The Tommies added on two more from a walk and two doubles via Lienhard and Cassidy Carby, giving them a 6-1 advantage after two.
UND got one back in the top of the third on two hits, as Alexander ripped a one-out double. Two batters later Neumayer got hit by a pitch and Valdez roped a single, advancing Alexander to third base and loading the bases. Alexander came in to score during the next at-bat on a passed ball, inching NoDak closer at 6-2.
Following a scoreless bottom of the third thrown by Livesay, UND left two runners on base in the top of the fourth.
Hailey Bethune smoked a double off the left field fence and Morris was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Alexander popped out to second base to end the top of the frame. Livesay followed that with her second straight clean inning in the bottom half, keeping it at 6-2 headed into the fifth.
North Dakota left the bases loaded in the fifth with a single by Hopfauf and two walks from
Chloe Bethune and
Camryn Lasota.
Hailey Bethune came up with the bases juiced and struck out looking to end the top half of the frame. The Tommies scored one in the bottom half on one hit, giving them an 8-2 lead after five.
The Hawks left two more stranded in the top of the sixth before UST walked it off with three runs off of Nelson in the bottom of the sixth. Carby hit a two-run double to left field with the Tommies leading 8-2, to secure the 10-2 victory.
Game two of the series will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Midco Sports Plus and the Summit League Network.
For more information on North Dakota Softball, follow on social media @UNDsoftball or visit FightingHawks.com.
