Sports

Ladyjacks win one, drop three on road trip to Minnesota

By Tyler Ohmann

04/02/2013

The Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) softball team was the only area team that was able to get some playing time this past weekend as they traveled to Rosemount, Minn. to play indoors against some familiar opponents.

The Ladyjacks took on both MonDak and other region opponents in a four-game Easter weekend trip to Minnesota.

DCB started out the trip well on Friday as they trounced the usually tough North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) Wildcats 22-9 in five innings.

“This was nice and a much needed win for us,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “It was a great way to start the trip.”

The Ladyjacks got off to a great start in the game as they scored 11 runs in the first two innings and pitcher Jess Audette put two goose eggs on the board.

“We really came out swinging the bats well and jumped out to an early lead,” Johnson stated.

Audette waned a little in the final three innings as she did allow nine Wildcat runs on eight hits, but the DCB offense did not relent. The Ladyjacks scored 11 more runs in the final three-inning span to close out the win.

“We had a nice pitching performance from Jess Audette but she did wear down a bit in the last inning,” Johnson stated. “She had limited the Wildcats to three hits and one walk through the first four innings.”

Freshman Jess Howard led the Ladyjacks at the plate as she went 5-for-5 with two doubles, three runs batted in (RBI). Sophomore Amanda Schmidt added three hits and three RBI, while Danielle Gibson and Bethany Colman each had a pair of hits in the 20-hit performance for DCB.

After that opener the competition caught up with the Ladyjacks as they lost their final three games.
Their second game on Friday was against another MonDak foe in Williston State.

Again the Ladyjacks gave up nine runs in the contest, including four in the first, which put them in a hole early.

The Ladyjacks scraped together seven hits and managed to scratch across a run in the fifth, but the game ended after six with a 9-1 win for the Tetons. Despite the outcome, Johnson thought the Ladyjacks competed well.

“Even though we lost this game I was very pleased with our performance,” Johnson stated. “Williston State is a very good D2 team and we held our own.”

Johnson was especially pleased with the offense and defense.

“We hit the ball pretty well but left too many runners on base,” Johnson stated. “Defensively we made a number of good plays.”

A big loss for the Ladyjacks was Colman, who got the loss after she gave up four first-inning runs and then exiting the game due to illness. Johnson felt this hurt DCB.

“Bethany had to come out in the first inning because of illness and that hurt us, both offensively and defensively,” Johnson stated.

Gibson came in and pitched the remainder of the game in relief. Dariann Freer and Jess Carson each had two hits a piece to lead DCB offensively.

On Saturday the Ladyjacks ran into a buzz saw as they lost a five-inning game 18-0 to Dakota County Technical College, a region opponent.

The Knights came out swinging as they scored 17 of their 18 runs in the first two innings. The Ladyjacks were unable to dig out of that early hole and managed to get only two hits off the tough Knights pitching.

“We didn’t have our mojo today but much of that can be attributed to the competition,” Johnson stated. “DCTC is an excellent team and went undefeated in their four games.”

Audette took the loss for the Ladyjacks, but the performance may have been hampered by injury according to Johnson.

“They came out ripping the cover off the ball and we didn’t help the cause much,” Johnson stated. “Jess Audette had some injury issues and struggled finding her spots. I thought the injury affected her from the get go as she didn’t seem to have the same velocity as yesterday.”

Gibson entered the game in relief in the second inning with the Ladyjacks behind.

Nichole Peters had two singles, which totaled the only two hits by the Ladyjacks in the loss.

“The highlight of the game for us was turning a triple play started on a line drive caught by Amanda Schmidt at shortstop,” Johnson stated.

The Ladyjacks closed out their trip later on Saturday with a 15-1 loss to Dawson Community College.

The strong Buccaneers squad was slowed early on as DCB hung in the game, and trailed only 3-0 after three innings. However, the Buccaneers bats came alive in fourth as they tallied five runs in the inning, and added seven more in the fifth to close out the game. DCB pushed one run across in the fifth as Peters drew a bases-loaded walk.

“We ran into another very good D2 and had an unpleasant outcome,” Johnson stated. “I thought we played pretty well to start the game but couldn’t finish.”

Colman took the loss for DCB on the mound. Howard, Jess Carson and Sadie Riendeau each had hits in the loss for DCB.

The Ladyjacks went 1-3 on the trip to drop to 1-9 overall on the season, but Johnson believes that the weekend went well thanks to all they learned about opponents that they will see again later in the season.

“Overall it was a decent weekend for us,” Johnson stated. “ I thought we played very well on Friday in both games.”

The Ladyjacks next scheduled contests are doubleheaders against the Buccaneers on April 6 and April 7. The games were scheduled to be played in Bottineau, but will be moved to Dawson thanks to the lingering snow.

“We will need to bring that kind of play for the weekend as we travel to Dawson for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday,” Johnson stated. “The games were originally scheduled for Bottineau but it looks like it will be awhile before we will get any softball action at home.”