Dominant displays deliver sweep at Top Gun
SHAWNEE, Kan. -- Bruin hitters combined for 25 hits and the pitching staff wrapped up a weekend in which it didn't allow an earned run as the Bellevue University softball team picked up a pair of victories on Saturday afternoon in the Top Gun NAIA Midwest College Classic.
Bellevue took down Briar Cliff University 4-0 in game one before an 8-0 run-rule victory over College of Saint Mary in the nightcap.
With wins in three of four over the weekend, the Bruins improve their overall record to 5-7. Briar Cliff is now 7-8, and CSM slips to 3-6 on the campaign.
Bellevue 4, Briar Cliff 0
Leslie Egan led the way with a 3-4 performance as seven Bruin batters recorded multi-hit games en route to pounding out 15 hits against the Chargers.
Ellie Zoucha (1-2) struck out seven over 5.1 innings to earn her first win of the season, and Mariah Unverzagt recorded her first save with a pair of strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief work.
Shelby Blankenship (1-3) took the loss for the Chargers, going the distance in the circle.
Unverzagt put the Bruins on the board in the fourth with an RBI single to plate Miranda Garcia and came around to score one batter later when Breanne McMurtry rang a double off the fence.
An RBI single from Egan in the fifth extended the lead to 3-0, and Savannah Short chased in McMurtry with another insurance run in the sixth.
Zoucha's seven strikeouts were a season-high as she worked into the sixth, departing with runners on first and second and one out.
Unverzagt got a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play to end the frame and worked around a two-out double in the seventh to nail down the win.
Bellevue 8, College of Saint Mary 0 (5 innings)
Carly Bertolini (2-3) tossed her third complete game and first shutout of the season in a one-hitter, striking out three to earn the win.
Kynzee McFadden (0-4) surrendered six runs on seven hits across four innings to take the loss for the Flames.
Leslie Egan opened the scoring for the Bruins again in this one with a squeeze play in the first, ahead of a sac fly from Mariah Unverzagt to stake the Bruins to a 2-0 lead after an inning of play.
Two-run home runs from Miranda Garcia in the third and Kaitlyn Fisher in the fourth extended the BU lead to 6-0. The long balls were the second of the year, respectively, for Garcia and Fisher.
Emma Crisman reached on a fielder's choice in the fifth to chase in another run, and Fisher walked the game off with a base knock to score Breanne McMurtry and invoke the eight-run rule.
Fisher finished 3-4 to pace a 10-hit attack in which eight of nine position players recorded a knock for BU.
Maycee Hoyt's second-inning single was the only blemish on Bertolini's pitching line.
Up Next:
Bellevue heads to Melbourne, Fla., for eight games in the Space Coast Spring Games. The Bruins begin play with a double-header on Sunday, Mar. 8, against Florida National University and Olivet Nazarene University at 11:15 a.m. and 3:45 p.m., respectively.