NORTH MANKATO – Blooming Prairie junior Sam Ivers picked a good time to hit her first career homerun.

Ivers launched one over the left field fence in the second inning as BP rallied to a 7-1 win over Eden-Valley Watkins in the first round of the Class ‘A’ state softball tournament at Caswell Park in Mankato Thursday.

Ivers wasn’t even positive what had happened as she headed towards second base.

“I wasn’t really sure (if it went out),” she said. “When I was going to second base I thought it bounced over the fence.”

BP went up 2-0 on the homer and the Awesome Blossoms (21-3 overall) tacked on four more runs to go up 6-0 in the third when Hunter Henderson and Shelbi Swenson each knocked in runs.

“I think we felt pretty confident coming into this one,” BP shortstop Jenna Krell said. “We had a lot of trust in ourselves and we had more confidence than we did the last two years at state.

Krell, who went 2-for-3, said Ivers’ homerun gave the whole team a big boost.

“That was awesome,” she said. “That really gave us energy and got us fired up. In the past we’ve struggled getting started, but today we got going fast.”

Swenson scattered seven hits and walked two as she struck out 11. She started the game out by striking out eight in the first three innings.

“It was pretty exciting,” Ivers said of Swenson’s start. “When she pitches like that it helps us stay in the game.”

BP will take on New Ulm Cathedral Thursday at 8 p.m. in a semifinal game at Caswell Park.

EVW 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 7 3

BP 1 1 4 1 0 0 X – 7 11 1

BP pitching: Shelbi Swenson (W), 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BBs, 1 R, 0 ER, 11 K

BP hitting: Tricia DeBoer, 4-for-4, double, 3 R, SB; Jenna Krell, 2-for-3, R, 2 SB; Hunter Henderson, 1-for-2, RBI, BB; Shelbi Swenson, 2-for-4, RBI, R, SB; Kelsey Kubista, 1-for-3, SB; Sam Ivers, 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R; Julia Manges, 0-for-3; Tessa Ivers, 0-for-3; Kelsey Wolf, 0-for-2; Mariah Holland, R