Apr. 3, 2012
Lincoln, Neb.
The Buena Vista softball team was three outs away from a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska Wesleyan University on Tuesday night, but the Beavers would settle for a split after winning the opener, 2-1, before falling in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2, in the finale.
Brooke Berkey helped spark BVU right out of the shoot in game one, leading off the game with a double down the left field line before coming around to score two batters later when Sam Engleman reached on an error by the first baseman.
BVU then pushed the lead to 2-0 with another run in the fourth. Stephanie Hayden singled to lead off the frame and then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jessica Stocker. After Les Turnquist was hit by a pitch, the two then moved up a base on a wild pitch before Hayden then scored on another wild pitch.
The Prairie Wolves then cut the lead in half in the sixth with a run on two hits, but left the tying run on base.
Senior Chancey Wilcke then sat the Prairie Wolves down in order to finish off her ninth complete game of the year.
BVU finished the contest with just five hits, as Wilcke, who is now 8-4 overall, held NWU to only four. She’s now just one win shy of 30 for her career, which would tie her with Brandi Sykora for sixth on the program’s all-time list.
NWU grabbed the early 1-0 lead in game two with a run in the second. That’s the way the score stood until the fifth when BVU scored twice to take a 2-1 advantage. Berkey singled to left with Turnquist on second, and Turnquist would come into score on a fielding error by the left fielder. Berkey, who moved up to second on the play, then reached third on a wild pitch before scoring on an Aphton Roberts RBI single to right center.
The Prairie Wolves, however, took advantage of a BVU error in the seventh to score the tying run and then got a two-out single to win the game in walk-off fashion.
Berkey finished with two of the Beavers’ six hits in the contest. Stocker had the only extra-base nock for the team – a two-out triple with the bases empty in the sixth.
Jami Webster got the start and went four innings, allowing just one run on six hits, to pick up the no-decision. Wilcke suffered the loss after going the final 2.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits.
Buena Vista is now 11-7 overall on the year and will return to action this Saturday afternoon when the team hosts third-ranked Coe College (22-2, 2-0 IIAC). First pitch of game one is currently slated to begin at 2:00pm.