No-hitter highlights series win for Bison softball

During a busy weekend on campus, the NDSU softball team kept their hold of the top spot in the Summit League standings. Missouri-Kansas City was in Fargo for a three-game set with the Bison. NDSU did just enough to hold the top spot in the league, taking two of three games from the ‘Roos.

The opening game of the series featured a high-scoring affair, as the Bison started the offensive attack in the bottom of the first inning when Christina Borek singled home Katie Tamayo after Tamayo doubled to start the game.

UMKC came back with two runs in their half of the second inning, plating two runners off of NDSU pitcher Krista Menke to take a one-run lead early.

Borek and Taylor Mortensen both brought home runs in the bottom of the third inning, which gave the lead back to NDSU. The Bison brought home four more runs in the next inning, three of them coming off of a Katie Tamayo three-run shot that plated Brandi Enriquez and Alex Sobrero.

Menke wasn’t as sharp as she’s been, but it was enough to get the win, putting her record to 20-8 on the season, and earning her team a 7-5 victory.

The evening-cap of the doubleheader saw a no-hitter from Bison junior Whitney Johnson. Johnson was one error and one walk away from a perfect game, but she did more than enough to earn her team the victory, striking out ten UMKC batters and moving her record to 10-8 on the year, after her team took a 4-0 win.

Taylor Mortensen brought home Katie Tamayo on a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and the Herd scored three more times in the bottom of the sixth inning to add some insurance for Johnson heading into her final inning of work.

The schedule for Sunday was to be one game, but the two teams nearly played the equivalent of two games, as UMKC took a 6-4 victory from the Bison in 12 innings.

UMKC opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth inning, NDSU quickly followed that by picking up two in their half of the fourth. The Herd put two more runs up in the fifth, but UMKC hung a crooked three on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, which sent the game into extras tied at four.

Marlee Maples of UMKC hit a two-run shot in the top of the twelfth to giver her a team a two-run lead, and NDSU couldn’t rally in the bottom of the twelfth, falling 6-4.

NDSU has two series left in the regular season, traveling to Brookings, S.D. next weekend and hosting Southern Utah the following weekend.