March 18, 2008

Bismarck, ND – In a battle of the only two NCAA Division II softball programs in North Dakota, the University of Mary and the University of North Dakota split U-Mary’s home opening double header. The Marauders powered by UND 6-1 in the opener with North Dakota fighting back for a 6-4 win in game two.

(Highlights of the U-Mary vs. UND tilt is available on the U-Mary iTunes site. Box scores and audio of the games is available on the softball schedule page.)

Half of the Marauders 12 hits in the first game went for extra bases, including home runs by Danelle Lunn and Leslie Benavidez, and Dre Brunskill had two doubles.

The Marauders power game helped U-Mary jump out to a quick 2-0 lead. Meghan Ward led off with a double and scored on a double by Samantha Antolin. Brunskill would single in Antolin and the Marauders bats were on fire.

UND’s Cassie Hanson blasted a solo home run out of the park in the fourth inning to cut the U-Mary lead to 2-1, but Lunn immediately responded with a solo shot. In the fifth, U-Mary added a run when Brunskill doubled and scored on an error by UND, and Benevidez put the game out of reach with a two-run home run in the sixth inning.

Ashley Watson pitched a complete game for the victory, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out six. The victory was the freshman’s team-leading sixth of the season.

Brunskill and Antolin each had three hits in four at bats for U-Mary and Ward added two hits.

North Dakota turned the tables on U-Mary in game two. A two-out rally gave UND a 1-0 lead in the first inning before adding three more in the fourth. After struggling offensively to start the contest, U-Mary strung together five straight singles and six total in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4-4. Brunskill, Lunn, Michelle Meza and Sara Naglosky all had run scoring singles in the inning.

The tie didn’t last long. Hanna Rose Peters, UND’s starting pitcher, blasted a home run to lead off the fifth inning. North Dakota added another run in the seventh on a double by Hanson to take a 6-4 lead.

U-Mary had a chance in the home half of the seventh. Naglosky led off with a single and Priscilla Rios followed with a walk, but U-Mary couldn’t get the key hit needed to knot the game up.

UND ended the game with 17 hits while U-Mary had nine.

The Marauders are 12-13 on the season. North Dakota is 7-23.