Minot State and Valley City State spilt a pair of games in much of the same fashion as a week ago in Minot.
Minot State University rode solid pitching from
Mandy Greenberg (So., Winnipeg, Manitoba) in game 1 to defeat Valley City State 2-1 in Dakota Athletic Conference softball here Tuesday.
The Vikings, however, rallied in game 2 for a 4-2 win behind starting pitcher Krystal Hathaway. At Minot State last week, it was 3-2 MSU and 3-1 VCSU at Herb Parker Stadium with Greenberg and Hathaway earning wins.
“The split on the road is OK, I guess. If we could have swept, we would have been in sole possession of first, but it was a tough pair of games,” said MSU head coach
Bill Triplett. “We threw our ace in game 1, they threw theirs in game 2. Our philosophy is we can come back with Greenberg in game 2, but it was smart on Chad's (VCSU Chad Slyter) part – that's the coaching game.”
Greenberg and VCSU first-game starter Katie McBride were at the top of their games as errors led to all three runs.
“It was a pretty clean game except for three balls to short,” Triplett said. “We gave them their run when we overthrew first on a grounder to short and both of our runs scored on errors on balls hit to short. It was a pretty clean game overall.”
The Beavers were saved by the bottom of the order as Nos. 6-9 accounted for all five hits.
Ashley Smoke (Jr., C, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba) had two hits, while
Colleen Bertrand (Fr., C, Langley, British Columbia),
Stacy Fournier (Fr., SS, Langley, British Columbia) and
Leah Matthewson (So., OF/1B, Regina, Saskatchewan) had one hit each.
Melissa Elliott (Sr., OF, Escondido, Calif.) and
Jen Dixon (Fr., OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba) drove in runs.
Game 2 saw much of the same for the pitchers as MSU's starter Dixon nearly matched Hathaway. She gave up four runs in the second, but settled down after that.
“Hathaway was pretty good for four innings, but we battled late. We had the tying run on in both the sixth and seventh,” Triplett said. “Jen was good in the second game, we just had one bad inning. We gave them four outs in the second and they made us pay.”
The Beavers finished with eight hits, led by
Deanna Mitchell (Jr., OF/1B, Portage, Manitoba) and Elliott with two each. Bertrand drove in both runs for MSU.
“Colleen has played her way right into the DP (designated player) spot,” said Triplett.
According to Triplett, the biggest thing for his young team is to get games. MSU lost two games as NCAA Division II Bemidji State cancelled nonconference games set for Wednesday. The Beavers are scheduled to have a junior varsity contest Wednesday (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) in Minot, but the program is not sure what diamond yet.
“My freshmen just need games and because of our rainouts, I will probably play all of the freshmen in the JV game,” Triplett said.
The Beavers moved to 17-7 on the season and 4-2 in DAC play, while the Vikings went to 14-13 and 8-2 with the split. MSU plays conference games Saturday and Sunday against Dakota State in Minot. The location on that series is also to be determined.
– GO BEAVERS –
