MANKATO, Minn. – The No. 9th-ranked Bethel University softball team walked off its season opener over Wisconsin-Stout putting up a crooked number in its final at bat, 5-4. The Royals had a late-night slugfest in the weekend finale blasting two homers and five doubles in a 16-5 rout of Dubuque at the BLC Invitational inside the Mankato Dome Saturday evening.
Lexi DeBace and
Kayla Hokanson each drove in five runs between the two games while
Allie Fauth-Kilgore was a combined 6-of-10.
Kayla Simacek picked up both wins in the circle with a combined 20 strikeouts.
Game 1: #9 Bethel 5, Wisconsin-Stout 4
• The Bluedevils put up a two spot in the top of the first before BU responded in the bottom half. Allie Fauth singled and moved into scoring position with a stolen base before
Lexi DeBace drove her in with a double.
• An RBI double for Stout in the fourth and a home run in the sixth put them ahead 4-1.
• Allie Fauth's RBI triple and
Lexi DeBace's RBI single brought the Royals within one heading into the final frame.
•
Kayla Simacek stranded a UWS leadoff-double with a pair of strikeouts in the seventh.
• In the seventh, Bethel rallied getting its first three hitters aboard.
Jordyn Rudolph drove in the first run with a single before
Lexi DeBace drove in the game winner two batters later.
Game 2: #9 Bethel 16, Dubuque 5
• BU jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three sparked by a leadoff home run off the bat of Fauth-Kilgore.
• Dubuque used a two-run homer of its own making it a one run game in the fourth.
•
Kayla Hokanson belted her first home run of the year as her three-run shot cleared the fence in dead center field.
• Dubuque would plate three in the fifth cutting the Royals lead to 6-5.
• The bats stayed alive in the top of the sixth where BU put up a six-spot, doing so on three hits and two Dubuque errors.
• BU added four more runs in the top of the seventh before Simacek struck out 2 of her 12 in the bottom half of the frame.
UP NEXT
The Royals head back down to Mankato on Saturday, Feb. 25 taking on Luther at 1 p.m. and Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 3:30 p.m. in the MSU All Sports Dome.
