OMAHA, Neb. -- The 25th-ranked Bellevue University softball team split its home opener on Friday afternoon against MidAmerica Nazarene University, defeating the Pioneers 2-1 in the opener before dropping the nightcap 4-1.
Bellevue moved to 10-10 on the season with the split. MNU is now 6-12 overall.
The Bruins return to action on Wednesday, March 19, for a 4 p.m. contest at Doane University in Crete, Neb.
Game 1: Bellevue 2, MidAmerica Nazarene 1 (8 innings)
A suicide squeeze bunt by Miranda Garcia scored Alexa Sidel from third to give BU the 2-1 victory over MNU in eight innings in the opener.
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI single to right field by Kelly Stoakes, driving in Robin Todd from second.
Bellevue tied the game in the bottom of the sixth frame with an RBI single up the middle by Liana McMurtry, scoring Savannah Short from third. Short led off the inning with a single to center field and moved over to third after sacrifice bunts by Garcia and Laila Fiscus.
Using the international tiebreaker rule, Sidel was placed on second to start the eighth inning. Sidel was moved to third with a sacrifice bunt by Short before Garcia's game-winning bunt gave BU the victory.
Katie Cunningham earned the win, improving to 7-3 on the season. She did not give up an earned run in the victory, scattering five hits with no walks and five strikeouts in eight innings of work.
Brie Manwarren (2-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing 11 hits with one walk and four strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
Game 2: MidAmerica Nazarene 4, Bellevue 1
The Pioneers used a three-run seventh inning to surge past the Bruins, taking the nightcap, 4-1.
The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third after Mariah Unverzagt singled to right field, and Liana McMurtry scored following a throwing error by Pioneer right fielder Morgan Hamilton.
MNU answered in the top of the fourth when Dakoda Hobbs scored from third on a passed ball.
After the first two Pioneer batters reached base in the top of the seventh, BU starter Ellie Zoucha was replaced by Cunningham. MNU scored three runs following a single by Dakoda Hobbs and a BU fielding error to give MNU a 4-1 advantage.
BU managed one baserunner in the bottom of the seventh before MNU starter Mandy Brown retired the final two batters to earn the complete-game win.
Zoucha (2-5) suffered the loss, giving up three runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in six innings of work.
