HASTINGS, Neb. – Junior Autumn Soter smacked a pair of home runs as The Briar Cliff University softball team (8-14 GPAC, 20-23) split with Hastings (4-18 GPAC, 16-28), Saturday afternoon at the Smith Complex. The Chargers lost 7-3 in the opener and took the nightcap 8-5.
Game – 1
Hastings led 4-0 heading into the fifth inning. With one out, junior Karis Gifford singled and senior Kylee Lukes walked.
Soter cleared the bases with a home run to dead center field. The Lady Broncos scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to seal the game.
For Briar Cliff, junior Karina Cupples and Gifford had two hits each. Sophomore Grace Batcheller (6-9) gave up five hits and three runs in 1.3 innings.
For Hastings, Lauren Schneider had three hits. Kyleigh Boever (8-12) gave up six hits, three runs, walked two and struck out seven in seven innings.
Game – 2
The game was deadlocked at 1-1 after two innings. In the third, with two outs, Lukes hit a home run over the left field fence.
After that, the Chargers used two hits, two errors and a passed ball to score three more runs. Hastings chipped away and closed the gap to 5-4 heading into the seventh inning.
Cupples led off with a single and moved to third on back-to-back ground ball. Lukes laced a double down the left field line to score Cupples.
Soter put the ball over the left center field fence to make it 8-4, BCU. In the bottom half, the Lady Broncos scored a run and had two on with one out. Junior Georgia Krohn got the next two batters out to close the game.
For Briar Cliff, Lukes had three hits, scored three runs and drove in two runs. Krohn (10-8) gave up 12 hits, five runs with four earned, walked two and struck out six in seven innings.
For Hastings, Madison Hemphill (0-1) gave up five hits, five runs with two earned and struck out two in three innings.
Briar Cliff has finished the 2024 season.
