VCSU Box Score - 1
VCSU Box Score - 2
Tournament Website
WATERTOWN, S.D. -- After the Bruins forced a second championship game with Valley City State University, BU fell in the title game to the Vikings, 11-3, as VCSU earned the 2022 North Star Athletic Association Tournament championship on Saturday at the Premier Softball Complex.
BU advanced to the championship game with an 8-2 win over Mayville State University and a 7-5 victory over VCSU, setting up the second championship game against the Vikings.
With the win, VCSU earned an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament.
The Bruins (42-13), who won the NSAA regular-season title, will await word of their post-season fate when the NAIA National Championship qualifiers are revealed on Tuesday, May 10 at 4 p.m. Watch Live on Facebook.
Bellevue 8, Mayville State 2
BU used a seven-run second inning to propel the Bruins to the NSAA Tournament championship game, with an 8-2 win over MSU in an elimination contest to start the day.
Jocelyn Ontiveros led off the second inning with a solo homer to left field to give the Comets an early 1-0 advantage.
The Bruins responded in the bottom of the second inning with seven runs on an RBI single to left field by Catherine Kempf, a bases-loaded walk to Reese Floro, a suicide squeeze bunt by Lauren Jurek, a pair of bases-loaded fielder's choice RBIs by Sami Reding and Allison O'Driscoll, and an RBI single to left field by Liana McMurtry, giving BU a 7-1 lead.
A groundout RBI by O'Driscoll scored Alyssa Morbach from third, extending the margin to 8-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Ontiveros drove in her second run of the game with an RBI double to left field in the top of the sixth, cutting the lead to 8-2.
Savannah Gunn earned the win improving to 10-1 on the season. She allowed one run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in four innings of work.
Annika Seedborg suffered the loss, giving up five runs on four hits with one walk and no strikeouts in 1.1 innings.
Bellevue 7, Valley City State 5
The Bruins grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the third on an RBI infield single by Young and on a two-run homer to left field by Katie Cunningham.
VCSU quickly responded with two runs in the bottom half of the third on an RBI single up the middle by Jessica Husband and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Anne-Elise Gest, slicing the lead to 3-2.
After the Bruins added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth with a two-run single to right field by Cunningham, the Vikings answered with a solo homer to left field by Joelle Aiello, making it 5-3 at the end of five innings of play.
Bellevue added two more runs in the top of the sixth highlighted by an RBI double down the left-field line by Floro. BU also scored off a Viking fielding error by pitcher Joelle Lamontange, to push the advantage to 7-3.
A two-run homer to left field by Andrea Rodriguez sliced the lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth frame.
After giving up a single to Husband to start the seventh inning, Cunningham retired the next three batters to secure the 7-5 victory for the Bruins.
Cunningham improved to 16-7 on the season, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
Lamontange (21-7) was tagged with the loss, scattering six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in seven innings.
Valley City State 11, Bellevue 3 (5 innings)
The Vikings took advantage of five BU fielding errors while pounding out eight hits in the first two innings, to race out to a 9-0 lead. Only one of VCSU's nine runs in the opening two frames was earned.
Aiello blasted a solo home run and the Vikings also got an RBI infield single from Sierra Crocker and a pair of RBI singles from Rodriguez to give VCSU a nine-run cushion.
The Bruins opened the fourth inning by loading the bases with no outs with three-consecutive singles. Bases-loaded walks to McMurtry and Emily Rochford and a sacrifice fly to right field by Cunningham, pulled the Bruins to within six runs at 9-3.
Aiello led off the bottom of the fifth with her second home run of the game, increasing the VCSU advantage to 10-3.
The Vikings ended the game on an RBI double to left field by Marissa Hawkins, making the final, 11-3.
