April 28, 2019
Photo credit by Viterbo (Wis.) Sports Information
La CROSSE, Wis. – Dakota State (S.D.) earned the first lead at 1-0 in the third game of the North Star Athletic Association softball conference regular-season finale Sunday at Outdoor Athletic Complex. Viterbo (Wis.) went on to score a pair of runs in the bottom third and fifth innings to earn a 4-1 victory over the Trojans. VU went 2-1 record in the tripleheader.
Dakota State is 9-33 overall record and 6-21 record in league play. Viterbo is 15-28 overall record an 10-16 NSAA conference record.
Quinn Motichka led off the top third inning with a single. Nicole Stewart drilled a double and advanced Motichka to third base. Peyton Brokiewicz recorded an RBI sacrifice fly to score Motichka to give DSU a 1-0 lead.
Viterbo answered with two runs in the bottom half of the third inning, thanks to Sonya McCormick's lead-off triple. Alyssa Nilssen followed up with an RBI bunt single to score McCormick to knot the game at 1-1. Taylor Pacana hit a single and advanced Nilssen to third base.
The V-Hawks gained a 2-1 lead after Brooklyn Ottelien's RBI single to score Nilssen in the bottom third frame.
Pacana and Ottelien hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom fifth inning. Ottelien produced an RBI to score Pacana to balloon VU's lead to 3-1. Lauren Davis followed up with an RBI single to score Morgan Mohler – pinch runner for Ottelien – to widen their lead to 4-1.
Viterbo secured the victory after shutting down Dakota State in the final inning.
Stewart went 2-of-3 at the plate with a double and single for the Trojans. Motichka added two singles and a run scored. Brokiewicz had an RBI. Taylor Poe and Annalisa Ingui each tallied a single.
McCormick had a triple, single and a run scored for the V-Hawks. She swiped one base. Ottelien added a double, single and drove in two runs. Pacana also had a double and single. Nilssen and Davis each recorded a hit and an RBI. Autumn Olson had a single.
Viterbo outhit Dakota State 9-6 in the game. The V-Hawks left 11 runners on base compared to the Trojans seven runners left on base.
Ingui (L, 0-8) took the defeat in the pitching circle for DSU. She pitched four-plus innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. Stefani Gollin tossed two scoreless innings in relief, yielding the V-Hawks to one hit.
Kendyl Schine (W, 1-6) earned the victory after pitched a complete game for VU. She limited the Trojans to one run on six hits.
Dakota State opens up their North Star conference postseason tournament play on Thursday as the seventh-seeded team. The Trojans face No. 2 seed Bellevue (Neb.) in Valley City, N.D. at VCSU Softball Complex.
Viterbo will be the sixth-seeded team in the conference tournament and will face third-seeded Mayville State (N.D.).
The winners and losers of those games will face each other in the second game on Thursday.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
