Bruins split NSAA doubleheader at Presentation

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
NSAA Standings

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- The Bellevue University softball team split a conference doubleheader against Presentation College Saturday at the NSAA Crossover Tournament being played at the Presentation College Dome.

Bellevue edged the Saints, 1-0, in the opener, before PC responded with a 7-2 victory in the nightcap. 

The Bruins move to 6-2 on the season with the split and 3-1 in the NSAA. PC is now 5-7 overall and 1-3 in league play.  

Bellevue will head to Clermont, Fla. to compete in the Spring Games on March 4-9. The Bruins are scheduled to play 12 games in the tournament beginning with a 10:30 a.m. contest against the University of South Carolina-Beaufort on Sunday, March 4. 

Game 1: Bellevue 1, Presentation 0

The opener was a real pitcher's duel with neither team managing to get a baserunner past first base until Sayde Woten hammered a solo homer over the center field fence on a 3-2 count in the top of the seventh inning, giving BU a 1-0 advantage. 

Lexi LeCalsey retired the side in the bottom of the seventh, including striking out the final two batters, to secure the one-run victory for the Bruins. LeCalsey improved to 4-0 on the season, allowing just two hits with no walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings of work. It marked her third complete-game shutout of the season. 

Woten finished 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI to lead the BU offense. 

Ashlyn O'Keefe (5-2) suffered the loss, tossing a five-hitter with one walk and two strikeouts in seven complete innings. 

Game 2: Presentation 7, Bellevue 2

After being held scoreless for 11-consecutive innings, the Saints scored seven runs in the final three frames, including four in the sixth, to rebound for the 7-2 victory in the nightcap. 

O'Keefe, who pitched all 14 innings on the day, collected the win, scattering five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in seven innings in the circle. LeCalsey (4-1) was tagged with the loss, giving up seven runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work.  

Sarah Zeleny's RBI single to right field scored Michaela Miller to give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the third inning. Emily Mendick scored from third on a wild pitch by O'Keefe to extend the BU lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth. 

The Saints scored their first run of the day following a throwing error by Gigax in the top of the fifth frame, slicing the lead to 2-1.

PC erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth, sparked by an RBI double to deep left by Krystle Schweers and a two-run double to right by Morgan Plumbtree, giving the Saints a 5-2 advantage. 

Kassandra Orozco's RBI double to deep center increased the PC lead to 6-2 in the top of the seventh inning and the Saints added an insurance run, scoring off a BU throwing error by Miller to put PC up 7-2. 

O'Keefe retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to pick up her seventh victory of the season.