NDSU's bats wake up in bounce-back win over UND
· Yahoo Sports
Apr. 25—GRAND FORKS — North Dakota State left 10 players stranded on base in its shutout loss to UND on Friday.
The Bison batters made sure to get their runners home on a windy Saturday afternoon at Albrecht Field.
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NDSU collected 12 hits from eight different batters to beat the Fighting Hawks 8-6.
"The bats weren't alive (on Friday), to be honest," Bison catcher Jessica Delatorre said. "But I think today we came out as a team and strung hits together, and came out with a win. ... We had a lot of hits yesterday, we just didn't get the hits when we needed to. And today, we got those clutch hits."
Junior infielder Taylinn Warren led the way, batting 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.
Delatorre went 2 for 3, highlighted by a solo home run that was blasted to center field.
"It was nice to come back from yesterday," NDSU head coach Darren Mueller said. "We got some big hits early on that got some runs on the board, and I think it loosened our team up a little bit."
The Hawks were forced to play catch-up from the second inning onward, and dug themselves into a 6-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the fourth.
The Bison loaded the bases with no outs courtesy of a walk and two singles to start the fourth.
NDSU scored two runs on fielding errors and added a third unearned run thanks to a sacrifice fly from senior infielder Bella Dean.
"Pretty much everything," head coach Jordan Stevens said when asked what went wrong in the fourth. "It just spiraled on us. We couldn't figure out a way to make a play or to get out of it."
Despite the missteps, UND managed to claw back within reach.
Bison junior pitcher Madison Wihlm issued three consecutive walks in the bottom of the fourth and was replaced by senior Piper Reed.
Freshman infielder Aleksia Severson hit an RBI groundout, followed by an RBI single from senior outfielder Brooklyn Morris.
"I liked our level of competitiveness at the plate," Stevens said. "We took some really good at-bats. It was frustrating that we gave them runs early to put ourselves in that position to have to dig out kind of the whole game. But good resilience from our group, we didn't give up the whole time. ... I think we were more frustrated than anything else, knowing that we just kind of did that to ourselves."
Delatorre's deep home run gave NDSU a 7-4 advantage in the fifth, but again, the Hawks were quick to respond at the bottom of the inning.
Senior infielder Katelyn Neumayer sent a solo home run sailing over center field.
On the very next at-bat, freshman infielder Jaedyn Valdez blasted a solo shot of her own.
"I believe both of them were two-strike counts," Stevens said. "To put a quality swing on a two-strike pitch when we were chasing (three) runs at the time was great."
The rally attempt stopped there. Reed, who gave up both home runs, settled down and held the Hawks scoreless through the final two innings to earn the win.
"As a senior, (Reed) wants to go out on a good note," Mueller said. "I'm really happy for her to get that, for her to come in and close the game that way. I know she gave up some home runs, but it was nice to see her (finish strong) because down the stretch we're going to need her."
The Bison added some padding to their lead with an RBI double from Warren.
Sophomore starting pitcher Tehya Armstrong took the loss for UND, pitching four innings while giving up three earned runs and six hits.
The Hawks will close out their three-game home series against NDSU Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
"Anytime that you're down in a series, it's always a challenge to come back, especially on the road," Mueller said. "(UND) is excited, there's a good crowd here, so it was big for us to get the win."