ATCHISON, Kan. — The Bellevue University softball team settled for a doubleheader split at Benedictine (Kan.) College Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Benedictine Softball Field. The Bruins took the opener, 7-4, before falling in the nightcap, 6-1.
With the split, Bellevue moved to 9-7 on the season. Benedictine is now 10-13 overall.
The Bruins will host No. 14-ranked Grand View University tomorrow (Mar. 22) in a single non-conference contest at 3 p.m. at Roy Smith Field in Omaha.
Game 1: Bellevue 7, Benedictine 4
Bellevue took advantage of four Raven errors to score five unearned runs en route to the 7-4 victory in the opener.
The Bruins got out of the gates quickly, with the first three batters recording singles as BU took an early 2-0 lead, capped by an RBI single up the middle by Sami Reding.
The Ravens quickly responded in the bottom of the first with a two-run double to left-center field by Natalie Sheffield, tying the game at 2-all.
BU regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the second when Alyssa Morbach scored following a single by Reese Floro and a throwing error by Raven pitcher Kera Willoughby.
An RBI single to left field by Kassidy James and a fielding error by Morbach gave BC a 4-3 advantage in the bottom of the second frame.
Once again, the Bruins responded in the top of the third, scoring a pair of runs on an RBI single up the middle by Lauren Jurek and on a run-scoring double to right-center field by Mya Montero, giving BU a 5-4 margin, chasing Willoughby.
The Bruins added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth following a throwing error by Raven first baseman Halley Rindom, making it 7-4.
The first two Benedictine batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh on a single and hit batsmen before Katie Cunningham retired the final three batters to end the threat and earn her third victory of the season.
Cunningham gave up four runs in the first two innings before settling down to improve to 3-4 on the season. She scattered nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts in seven complete innings of work.
Willoughby (2-3) was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs on seven hits with three walks and one strikeout in 2.2 innings in the circle.
Game 2: Benedictine 6, Bellevue 1
Benedictine scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings and rode the solid pitching effort of Abby Pressgrove as BC secured the split with the 6-1 victory in the nightcap. Pressgrove improved to 3-0 on the season after allowing just three hits while striking out five Bruins in the complete-game win.
After being held hitless for the first three innings, Reding led off the fourth with a double to right-center field and scored following a single by Liana McMurtry to take a 1-0 lead.
The Ravens answered in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double to left-center field by Rilee Bell and an RBI single to left-center by Chloe Strickland, giving BC a 3-1 advantage, causing starter Savannah Gunn to be replaced by Jurek.
An RBI single up the middle by James followed a lead-off triple by Ally Pickering to increase the Raven margin to 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth. Natalie Sheffield’s RBI double to left field and an RBI infield single by Madison Zaccardo made it 6-1 later in the fifth frame.
Gunn (2-1) suffered her first loss of the season, allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts in the first 3.2 innings of the contest.
