Lady Devils forge split against NIACC
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 2, 2003
The Riverland softball squad survived NIACC's display of power and came away with a non-conference split Tuesday afternoon in Mason City.
The Lady Blue Devils lost 4-2 in the opener before batting to an 11-10 victory in 10 innings in the nightcap.
NIACC (7-9) assembled four of their seven hits during the third inning of the first game. The Trojans touched up Abbey Bergstrom for a single, a double, a three-run home run and a consecutive homer for all four of their runs.
Riverland actually outhit NIACC 12-7 in the opener but stranded 10 runners on base. Bergstrom (2-3) struck out two and walked one in the loss.
The Blue Devils (5-6) bounced back to take the second game, scoring runs in three straight extra innings to outlast NIACC 11-10 in the 10-inning contest. Marissa Kelsey pitched the entire game for the Devils, upping her record to 2-3 overall with four strikeouts.
Bergstrom made good on her at-bats in the second game with a 5-for-6 plate performance, including a double and four runs batted in. Beth Harsma was 4-4 with five runs scored.
Melanie Gabrielson set the table with a 3-4 day and three RBIs. Erin Evans was 2-4 and Molly Wasomen was 2-5 with a double.
"It was a great game, the girls really battled," said Riverland head coach Lisa Quednow-Bickler. "We came out and hit the ball like we needed to be hitting the ball."
NIACC again had two home runs but was unable to bundle its 15 hits together for a big inning. Riverland scored in seven of 10 innings, including two in the eighth, one in the ninth and the game-winner in the 10th.
The Lady Blue Devils host Central Lakes on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Austin in the MCCC South Division opener for both teams. Riverland is at home again on Saturday with a league doubleheader against Ridgewater starting at noon.