Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
NSAA Standings
VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- After dropping a 9-7 decision in the opener, the Bellevue University softball team rebounded with a convincing 8-3 win in the nightcap to split a North Star Athletic Association doubleheader at Valley City State University Monday afternoon.
The split moved the Bruins to 25-17 on the season and 12-4 in the NSAA. Valley City is now 26-9 overall and 10-4 in league play.
The Bruins will host College of St. Mary on Wednesday, April 20, in a 4 p.m. non-conference doubleheader at the Lied Center.
Game 1: Valley City State 9, Bellevue 7
The Vikings pounded out 11 hits and took advantage of three Bruin fielding errors to collect the 9-7 win in the opener.
VCSU got out of the gates quickly, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first, sparked by a two-run homer by Cejay Hilhorst.
The Bruins quickly responded with five runs in the top of the second, highlighted by a three-run double by Erin Sharpe.
Maddie Siedlik scored on a wild pitch to give the Bruins a 6-4 lead in the top of the third.
The Vikings tied the game at 6-6 on a two-run single by Tatum Lundin in the bottom of the fourth.
A solo homer by Katie Cameron and an RBI double by Kelli Moore gave the Vikings an 8-6 cushion in the bottom of the fifth.
The Bruins got to within a run in the top of the sixth on Sharpe's RBI single to left field that scored Kaitlyn Goney.
The Vikings scored a Bruin fielding error in the bottom of the sixth to make the final, 9-7.
Kelli Fisher (16-10) suffered the loss, giving up 11 hits and a walk, while striking out eight in six innings of work.
Game 2: Bellevue 4, Valley City State 3
The Bruins scored three runs in the fifth and four in the seventh to help salvage the split with the 8-3 win in the nightcap.
BU struck first with an RBI single to left field by Katie Franzen in the top of the second, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
The Vikings responded in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs on an RBI single by Taylor Schroeder and on a Bruin fielding error.
VCSU made it 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth following on a one-run single to center field by Kelli Moore.
Sharpe it a three-run homer in the top of the fifth to give the Bruins a 4-3 advantage.
BU plated four runs in the top of the seventh highlighted by Siedlik's RBI double to left center, giving the Bruins an 8-3 advantage.
Sharpe (8-7) earned the win, allowing six hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 4.1 innings in the circle. Fisher picked up her team-leading fifth save of the season, allowing just two hits in the final 2.2 innings.
