DICKINSON, N.D. -- The Bellevue University softball team pulled out a dramatic come-from-behind win over Viterbo University, using a squeeze play to end the game, in a winners' bracket contest Friday evening in the North Star Athletic Association Tournament at North Softball Complex.
Trailing 3-2, entering the seventh, the Bruins tied the game on an RBI double to deep center field by Erin Sharpe. That set up a suicide squeeze bunt by Maddie Siedlik that scored Sydney Robertson from third, ending the game and giving BU the 4-3 win.
Bellevue, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, improved to 47-12 on the season and will now play at 2 p.m. (central time) Saturday against the winner of the Mayville State vs. Viterbo game that will be played at noon.
Viterbo fell to 22-30 overall with the loss.
The V-Hawks took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first with an RBI single to shallow left field by Lauren Davis that scored Sarah Obert from third.
After Kelli Fisher struck out the first two batters in the top of the third, VU connected on four-straight singles to score a pair of runs, increasing the V-Hawks' advantage to 3-0.
The Bruins responded in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs on Emily Miller's RBI single to shallow center field and on a bases-loaded ground-out RBI by Emily Gigax, slicing the lead to 3-2.
Neither team scored again until the Bruins' seventh-inning heroics.
Sharpe, who replaced Fisher in the fourth inning, earned the win, allowing just two hits with no walks while striking out two batters in four innings of work. She improved to 11-1 on the season.
Bailey Thur (4-2) was tagged with the loss, giving up two runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief work.
