Herd wins 2 of 3 in Brookings

With just two series remaining in the 2012 regular season, the NDSU women’s softball team was in hopes to take three games from rival South Dakota State in Brookings. The Herd dropped their first game of the set, but bounced back to win the last two and stay one game ahead of IPFW.

Krista Menke got the nod to open the series on Saturday afternoon. Both teams hit the ball well, but South Dakota State was able to time Menke in their last at-bats, scoring four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings leading to an 8-5 win.

Both teams were scoreless until the fifth, when the Bison were able to push two unearned runs across in their half of the inning. They scored three more runs in the sixth, one coming off of a Brandi Enriquez RBI double. Whitney Johnson had to close out the sixth inning for the Herd, getting just one out in the game. Jamie Gay was 1-4 with two RBIs in game one.

The bats continued in the evening-cap, as the Bison kept the offense rolling, winning 6-2. The Herd did the bulk of their damage in the early innings, scoring one run in the second and three in the third.

The Jacks pushed two across in the third, but Christina Borek was able to seal the deal in the seventh, as she hit a two-run homerun, her sixth of the year. Menke pitched all seven innings to earn her 21st victory of the season. Borek was 3-4 with three RBIs, and Katie Tamayo was 2-4 with an RBI of her own.

Both team’s bats were put to sleep for the night, and they slept all the way through Sunday, as a pitcher’s dual was on display in the final game of the series. NDSU was able to come out on top 2-0 on the strength of a 12-strikeout, complete game performance by Whitney Johnson.

Taylor Mortensen got the Bison on the board early, as she singled home Katie Tamayo in the first inning. The only other run of the game was by NDSU in the sixth inning, when Mortensen hit a solo shot to give her team a 2-0 lead.

Mortensen was 2-3 with two RBIs. The only other Bison player to get a hit was Amanda Grable, who singled following the Mortensen home run in the sixth. Whitney Johnson moved her record to 11-8 on the season.

The Bison (32-18, 16-5 Summit) will be back in Fargo to close out their regular season slate with a series against Southern Utah starting on Friday at 3:00. There will be two games Friday, with the final game coming on Saturday at noon, which is also senior day. The Summit League Championship will begin May 10 in Kansas City, M.O.