BU completes series sweep over Viterbo
The Bellevue University softball team completed the four-game series sweep with two victories over Viterbo University Monday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association action at the Viterbo Outdoor Athletic Conference. The Bruins edged VU, 2-1, in the opener, before cruising to a 14-3 victory in the nightcap.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Bellevue University softball team completed the four-game series sweep with two victories over Viterbo University Monday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association action at the Viterbo Outdoor Athletic Conference. The Bruins edged VU, 2-1, in the opener, before cruising to a 14-4 victory in the nightcap.
Bellevue improved to 29-19 on the season and 11-9 in the NSAA with the two wins. Viterbo dropped to 10-27 overall and 6-17 in league play.
The Bruins will host Waldorf University in a four-game conference series on Saturday-Sunday, April 28-29 at the Lied Activity Center. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 3 p.m. The Bruins' six seniors will be honored in between games on Saturday. Sunday's twin-bill will commence at noon.
Game 1: Bellevue 2 Viterbo 1
The Bruins used clutch hitting in the seventh inning and the solid pitching combination of Lexi LeCalsey and Myah Boehnke to collect the 2-1 victory in the opener.
Neither team scored until the top of the fourth inning when an RBI infield single by Michaela Miller plated Sayde Woten from third to give BU a 1-0 advantage.
A solo home run by Bailey Thur tied the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth frame.
Miller led off the top of the seventh with a single to center field. After stealing second, Miller scored on Grace Glotfelty's single up the middle to give the Bruins' a 2-1 lead.
LeCalsey who replaced starter Boehnke in the second inning, allowed just one baserunner in the bottom of the seventh to secure her 11th victory of the season. LeCalsey (11-7) scattered just three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in six innings of work.
Brooklyn Ottelien (2-10) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts in seven innings in the circle.
Game 2: Bellevue 14 Viterbo 4
Eleven different Bruins registered at least one hit as BU out-slugged the V-Hawks, 16-6, en route to the 14-4 victory in the nightcap.
The Bruins got out of the gates quickly when Glotfelty led off the game with a double to center field and Erin Sharpe delivered her 17th home run of the season in the second at-bat of the game to give BU an early 2-0 advantage. Bellevue added two more runs in the inning, scoring on a V-Hawk throwing error to push the margin to 4-0.
A two-run single to left-center by Maddie Siedlik extended the lead to 6-0 in the top of the third. Siedlik scored later in the inning off a wild pitch from Thur to make it 7-0.
A two-run double to center field by Emily Mendick and RBI singles by Siedlik and Sharpe highlighted a six-run fourth inning as the Bruins extended the lead to 13-0. The Bruins produced five hits in the inning.
The V-Hawks countered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, sparked by RBI singles from Ottelien and Delaney Hundley, to cut the lead to 13-3.
The Bruins added the 14th run on an RBI double to center field by Miller to give BU a 14-3 lead. The V-Hawks produced a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single up the middle by Lauren Davis to make the final, 14-4.
Sharpe (15-4) picked up her third win of the series, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out five V-Hawks in three innings of work.