Softball Falls to Fighting Hawks in Crucial Weekend Series, 1-2

The Bison would head into the weekend with an hour drive north up I-29 to face the struggling Fighting Hawks, who sat at 2-9 in Summit League play. The Bison, who were 7-5, would look to build a cushion in league play.

That wouldn’t happen in game one of the series, however, as it was the Tegan Livesay show on Friday afternoon. She would go the distance, giving up zero runs and just six hits, walking three, and striking out five.

Jocelyn McClary would have a solid day as well, going all six innings, allowing just two runs, on two hits, walking three, and striking out three. Unfortunately for her, the Bison offense didn’t show up on Friday.

Amai Hanta was the only highlight from the Bison bats as she went three-for-three with a walk. The Bison wouldn’t record an extra base hit, which led to a 2-0 defeat. UND scored one run in each of the first two innings, and they wouldn’t score from there.

The Bison would head into Saturday’s game two of the series searching for a win to tie up the series. While Friday’s game was a pitcher’s duel, Saturday’s was quite the opposite.

Morgan Zimmerman would kick off the scoring with a sac fly, giving NDSU a 1-0 lead in the second. NDSU would score an additional run, giving themselves a 2-0 lead on a UND error. UND would storm back in the third with two runs of their own, tying the game at 2-2.

This was thanks to a Taya Hopfauf sac fly and a Katelyn Neumayer RBI groundout. The top of the fourth is where the Bison did their damage.

They put up four runs to give themselves a 6-2 lead thanks to a couple of errors from UND and some timely hits from the Bison. UND responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, leading to a 6-4 ballgame heading into the fifth.

Jessica Delatorre would hit a solo homerun in the fifth, giving NDSU a 7-4 lead going to the bottom of the fifth. UND continued the homerun trend as Katelyn Neumayer and Jaedyn Valdez both hit solo homeruns, making it a one-run game going into the sixth.

Taylinn Warren hit an RBI double in the seventh, giving NDSU an 8-6 cushion for Piper Reed to close the door. The Bison would bring home an 8-6 win to tie up the series at 1-1 and send this series to a rubber match game 3 to decide the series on Sunday afternoon.

Much like Friday’s game, Sunday’s game would be a pitcher’s duel. Tegan Livesay not only shut out the Bison, but she also no-hit them. Jocelyn McClary would go all six innings for NDSU, giving up just two runs on five hits while striking out five.

But the Bison bats never woke up, and UND would cruise to a 2-0 game three win thanks to a pair of RBI singles to right. UND would take the series, and the Bison would fall to 8-7 in conference play.

The Bison have a three-game series to wrap up the regular season at home at Tharaldson Park against South Dakota State. The Bison currently sit as the number one seed, and barring a series sweep going either way, they will likely remain that way going into the playoffs.