Box Score
GULF SHORES, Ala. -- The Bellevue University softball team pounded out 13 hits while registering a 6-4 win over 25th-ranked Minot State in the Bruins' final pool play game at the 2011 NAIA National Championships.
Bellevue finished the season with a 32-19 record after going 1-2 in the program's fifth NAIA National Tournament appearance in school history. Minot State finishes its season with a 30-12 overall mark.
Kim Wees went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Bruins at the plate. Brooke Ellis, Kathryn Wardian, and Katie Malloy each picked up a pair of hits and an RBI in the victory.
Sophomore Amanda Neumann collected the victory, scattering six hits while striking out four Minot batters.
The Beavers took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Melissa Elliott led off with a triple to right center field and was driven home on a double to deep left center field by Jen Dixon.
The Bruins scored their first run of the tournament in the top of the second after consecutive doubles from Wardian and Malloy. BU took a 2-1 lead later in the inning following a fielding error by Beaver first baseman Deanna Mitchell.
Bellevue extended the lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Ellis that drove in Wees and a run-scoring double to deep right center field by Wardian that plated Ellis.
The Beavers responded in the bottom half of the fifth, tying the game at 4-4 , scoring three runs following three consecutive singles, a sacrifice fly and a BU throwing error.
Kelly Wieczorek scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch to help the Bruins regain the lead at 5-4 in the sixth. A sacrifice fly to left field by Neumann made it 6-4 later in the inning.
Neumann (23-10) allowed just one hit while recording two strikeouts in the final two innings to secure her 23rd victory of the season
Line Score
Bellevue......020 022 0 - 6 13 3
Minot State..100 030 0 - 4 7 3
WP: Neumann (23-10)
LP: Dixon (
2B: BU - Wees, Wardian 2; MS - Dixon, Elliott
3B: MS - Elliott
