FULLERTON, Calif. – The North Dakota State University softball team opened the 2017 season with a pair of losses – 5-2 to Loyola Marymount and 2-1 to Utah State in eight innings – on Friday, Feb. 10, during the first day of the Cal State Fullerton Easton Invitational played at Anderson Family Field.
North Dakota State (0-2) is scheduled to play Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. Central Time and the University of the Pacific at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Utah State's Riley Plogger scored the winning run with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
NDSU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning when
Montana DeCamp singled to right center with two outs to score
Julia Luciano from second base. DeCamp had two of NDSU's four hits.
Utah State (2-0) tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Paxton Provost's single down the right field line with two outs to score Jazmin Clarke.
Jacquelyn Sertic (0-1) took the loss for the Bison. Sertic struck out eight, allowed only four hits and walked one.
Utah State's Kellie White (1-0) recorded the win. White worked around seven walks and four hits, finishing with six strikeouts.
In the opener, Loyola Marymount (1-1) scored three runs in the first two innings and added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the fifth to defeat NDSU.
Alex Finie delivered a two-run double with two outs in the top of the first inning, while Taylor Lockwood reached on an infield single to push LMU's lead to 3-0.
North Dakota State's
Bre Beatty had in both scoring plays. Beatty drilled a home run over the left field fence to lead off the second. She added a run-scoring single in the third frame to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Loyola Marymount loaded the bases in the fifth inning, using a base-loaded walk to Mackenzie Kutze and Aria Pogni's infield single to push across the runs.
KK Leddy (0-1) and Sertic pitched for the Bison with Leddy recording the loss. The pair combined to allow eight hits, walk six and strike out four.
Rachael Farrington (1-0) worked the first five innings to earn the win, while Andy Wellins closed out the final two for the save. The pair combined to strike out six, walk six and allow four hits.