Bruins earn split, win series with Vikings

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

NSAA Standings

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Bellevue University softball team rallied late in the nightcap to earn a split with visiting Valley City State University, taking the four-game series, 3-1. The Vikings grabbed the opener, 7-2 before BU came from behind to nab the nightcap, 11-9. 

With the split, the Bruins stayed in first place in the league standings with a 7-1 NSAA record. BU is now 21-10 overall. VCSU is 18-13 on the season and 5-3 in league play. 

The Bruins will travel to Madison, S.D. this Thursday, April 7 for a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Dakota State University.  

Game 1: Valley City State 7, Bellevue 2

The Vikings used a five-run fifth and the outstanding hitting effort of Joelle Aiello to propel VCSU to the 7-4 victory in the opener. 

Aiello finished 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, and three RBIs.  

A two-run double to center field by Aiello gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. 

A sacrifice fly to right field by Lauren Jurek scored Reese Floro from third to slice the advantage to 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning. 

A solo homer to center field by Aiello, a two-run single to right field by Anne-Elise Gest, and a two-run double to center field by Andrea Rodriguez highlighted a five-run fifth for the Vikings, pushing the margin to 7-1.

The Bruins battled back in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run homer to center field by Ashley Young and a solo shot to left-center by Emily Rochford to pull BU to within three runs at 7-4.

Joelle Lamontagne induced three-straight groundouts in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the three-run victory for the Vikings. 

Cory Carillo suffered the loss, falling to 4-2 on the season. She gave up five hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out three batters in four innings. 

Lamontage (10-4) earned the win, scattering six hits with two walks and one strikeout in seven innings of work.

Game 2: Bellevue 11, Valley City State 9

The Bruins rallied for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the nightcap, 11-9, in a game that saw each team pound out 14 hits. 

Ashley Young led BU offensively, going 4-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs.  

The Bruins took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Young's two-run single to left field. 

Ashlyn Diemert's RBI single to center field cut the BU lead to 2-1 in the top of the second inning. 

Katie Cunningham's suicide squeeze bunt and a fielding error by VCSU catcher Sierra Crocker allowed BU to take a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third. 

Crocker's RBI single to left field scored Gest from third to move VCSU to with two runs at 4-2 in the top of the fourth. 

Young drove in Mya Montero with an RBI single to center field to give the Bruins a 5-2 edge in the bottom of the fourth stanza. 

VCSU tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs on Jessica Husband's RBI single to left field, a sacrifice fly to right field by Crocker, and a run-scoring single to center field by Diemert. 

Husband's two-run single to center field and Hawkins' two-run homer to left field gave the Vikings their first lead of the game at 9-5 in the top of the sixth. 

The Bruins responded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring six runs on a pair of two-run homers by Young and Rochford and on a two-run single to right field by Jurek, giving the BU an 11-9 advantage.

Cunningham forced two groundouts and a flyout in the top of the seventh to secure the 11-9 victory. 

Cunningham (7-6) earned the win, allowing five hits with two walks in the final two innings of the contest.