AUBURN, Ala. – North Dakota State softball split day two of the Plainsman Invitational, defeating Brown 2-0 before falling to host #20 Auburn 4-0 to wrap up the event for the Bison.
For the second-straight day, the Bison picked up a shutout against Brown, as
Piper Reed and
Lainey Lyle combined for the team's third shutout of the season. Lyle picked up the victory in four innings of relief, allowing three hits and a walk with one strikeout. Lyle had two strikeouts and gave up three hits and two walks in three innings.
The Bison took the lead in the third inning with the only runs of the game.
Ella Claus started off the inning with a walk. Two batters later,
Carley Goetschius hit a home run to left field to put the Bison in front.
NDSU would get two runners on in the second, fifth and sixth innings as well, but stranded a total of seven baserunners in the game, while Brown would strand nine.
Goetschius and
Kaylee Moore would each finish with two hits in the game, while
Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage and
Reanna Rudd had one hit. Rudd was also one of three Bison with a walk.
In game two, the Bison would fall to the Tigers for the second-straight day. Auburn would capitalize on two errors that helped fuel its scoring innings.
In the third, a Bison error extended the inning and Auburn was able to capitalize with an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead. Another error would allow for the Tigers to score their first of three runs in the fifth inning.
Moore,
Ava Chavarria and
Skylar Padgett would all have hits for the Bison in the game.
Paige Vargas picked up the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, in six innings of work. She finished with seven strikeouts.
Following the final game, Vargas, Moore and Goetschius were named to the Plainsman Invitational All-Tournament Team.
The Bison would return to action next weekend with the Blues City Classic hosted by the University of Memphis. NDSU is slated to begin the event against Drake and Texas-San Antonio on Friday, March 3. The opening game is set for a 10 a.m. first pitch.
