Late rally fuels improbable sweep

LINCOLN, Neb. - The Bellevue University softball team swept a non-conference double-header with Nebraska Wesleyan University on Monday evening. The Bruins took the opener 9-0 in six innings before rallying in the nightcap for a 9-8 eight inning win over the host Prairie Wolves.

Bellevue now stands at 29-8-1 on the year with the sweep while Nebraska Wesleyan rests at 15-15 at the end of the day.

The Bruins return to action on Wednesday, April 15 with a 3:00 p.m. Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference double-header at the College of Saint Mary.

Game One: Bellevue 9, Nebraska Wesleyan 0 (6 Innings)

Ashley Gigax was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of home runs and four runs batted in and Shelby Kindelin recorded a pair of hits and combined with Taylor Mohler on a four-hit shutout as Bellevue defeated Nebraska Wesleyan 9-0 in six innings.

Bellevue struck first with a 5-run second inning, courtesy of three straight run-scoring extra base hits. Sydney Robertson got things going with a two-run double to left center to plate Emily Gigax and Courtney Schendt. One batter later Kindelin hit her first double of the afternoon to left center to bring home Robertson. Ashley Gigax then drove a two-run homer, her first of the game, over the fence in right center.

Ashley Gigax wasted no time in launching her second long ball of the game, hitting a two-run shot to right center again, to bring home Robertson for a 7-0 BU advantage. With her second home run of the game, Gigax now has 16 on the year, moving her into a tie for third place in the Bruins' single-season record book with Katie Malloy. Amanda Neumann and Lindsey Bredar co-own the single-season recorded with 19 apiece.

Kindelin doubled home an insurance run in the sixth and Courtney Schendt drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the Bruins' ninth and final run of the afternoon.

Kindelin (1-0), making her first appearance in the circle, worked 4.2 scoreless innings while stranding seven base runners before handing the ball over to Mohler who struck out four of the five batters she faced to preserve the win.

Game Two: Bellevue 9, Nebraska Wesleyan 8 (8 Innings)

Emily Gigax singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth after a 6-run seventh by Bellevue forced extra innings as the Bruins claimed an improbable 9-8 eight inning victory in the nightcap.

With the International Tie Breaker rule in effect, Bellevue wasted little time scoring the go-ahead run. Alex Tooley sacrificed Michaela Miller to third and Emily Gigax promptly singled her in for a 9-8 BU lead. Kelli Fisher made sure the first Bruin lead of the game was maintained, striking out the side in the bottom half of the inning, to record her 13^th win of the season and improve to 13-2.

The Prairie Wolves scored three runs in each of the first two innings, aided in part by a trio of Bellevue errors that led to four unearned runs off the freshman southpaw. In her 3.2 innings, Kimberley surrendered eight runs (just two earned) on six hits.

Fisher relieved Kimberly in the bottom of the fourth, coming in with runners on second and third. The first batter she faced, Jordan Arndt, singled down the right field line as Nebraska Wesleyan added another pair of unearned runs.

Bellevue got two runs back in the top of the fifth. Shelby Kindelin led off the inning with a double and came in to score on Tooley's base hit. Tooley would score a run of her own when Taylor Mohler reached on a fielding error to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Bellevue made things interesting in the seventh, scoring six runs to tie the ballgame. A walk by Miller and consecutive hits by Tooley and Emily Gigax loaded the bases with no outs in the inning. Kimberley, the next batter in the order, then singled to left center chasing home two runs and pulling the Bruins within four at 8-4 prompting the Prairie Wolves to make a call to the bullpen.

Reliever Megan Cottier struck out the first batter she faced before hitting Kendall Hendrix with a pitch to load the bases with one out and bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Courtney Schendt. Schendt clubbed a three-run double to right center to chase home three runs and put the tying run 120 feet away where she was then pinch ran for by Sydney Robertson who proceeded to advance to third on a wild pitch to pinch-hitter Kaitlyn Goney. Robertson came home to tie things up on a second straight wild pitch.