DEVILS LAKE — Not everything has come easily for the Lake Region State College softball team this season.
But the Royals (9-23, 5-9) swept a doubleheader on Saturday, winning both games against Dakota College at Bottineau (1-21, 1-13) at Roosevelt Park Diamond 1. It was their second doubleheader sweep of the week, taking advantage of two of the bottom three teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference.
“We’re starting to get that confidence down,” head coach Kory Boehmer said. “It’s so important that we do. I don’t think they really believed, until they started to now. I think they’re starting to believe that ‘Yeah, we can play.’”
The Royals proved to be the more fundamentally sound team on the softball diamond. They won the first game 11-3 behind a hit parade in the late innings and a strong pitching performance from Darian Bender. Then in the second game, Whitney Rozdeba pitched a gem in a 4-0 victory.
“We played better defense than we have been,” Bender said. “We’ve been playing better as a whole, and we hit a lot better than our other games.”
Game 1
The teams traded runs in the first inning of the afternoon. Bender surrendered a pair of two-out hits, but she hit an RBI single of her own in the bottom half to tie it at one apiece.
Some poor fielding helped LRSC load the bases with one out in the second. The left fielder dropped a routine fly ball, and the center fielder misread a popup to shallow center. But the Royals couldn’t get anything across, as Morgan Cervantes struck out and Bender hit a comebacker that deflected to the second baseman.
The third inning was a similar story. Rozdeba led off by reaching on a fielding error by the shortstop, and Madden Wiebe laid down a nice bunt hit. A fielder’s choice and a 4-3 double play got the Jacks out of trouble. The game was still tied.
“We just had to bring more energy,” Bender said. “And the dugout had to get louder.”
But the Royals finally rallied in the fourth. Kassidy Hart, Ella Neider and Cervantes hit three consecutive doubles. Rozdeba singled, and Maggie Bender added a two-run double. It was a five-run frame to put LRSC up 6-1.
“Hits are contagious,” D. Bender said. “So once we got a couple, we kept going and it was good. And it’s easier to play with a lead.”
Bender cruised through the Jacks’ lineup on the mound. She struck out three in the second inning, then fired a perfect third. She worked around an error in a hitless fourth, then didn’t let a two-out infield single in the fifth inning phase her.
The Royals tacked on some insurance in the bottom of the fifth. They put together four hits, including RBI singles for Cervantes and Rozdeba that put them up 8-1.
“I don’t think there was any change,” Boehmer said of the fourth and fifth innings, “other than the fact that we just knew we could do it.”
The Jacks got two back in the sixth. They started the inning with three straight singles, two of the infield variety. One run scored on a sacrifice fly, and another came in on a double steal — the runner stealing second overran the base, distracting LRSC from the runner coming home.
The Royals loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on an error and two walks. They scored on an errant throw from the catcher, then got two more on hits from Neider and Cervantes.
That made it 11-3, ending the game by mercy rule in the middle of the inning.
Game 2
For the second straight game, LRSC got an RBI single from its pitcher in the first inning. This time, it was Rozdeba with the knock, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead.
Rozdeba struck out two in each of the first two innings, working around a leadoff baserunner in each frame. A Jack reached on a dropped third strike in the third inning, but Rozdeba struck out three in the frame. She had a chance at a four-strikeout inning, but settled for three after an inning-ending popout.
Four straight hits in the bottom of the fourth extended LRSC’s cushion to 3-0. M. Bender and Chesnee Isom collected RBIs.
Rozdeba had a streak of 12 straight retired, which got snapped with a two-out single in the fifth. She ended the inning with her ninth strikeout of the game.
“When she throws strikes, we do very well. She’s starting to get into more of a rhythm,” Boehmer said. “She got back from a pretty serious injury in the summer. And she’s just starting now to give us some good outings. It’s taken a while for her.”
At the plate, Rozdeba led off the fifth inning with her second hit of the game and fourth of the day. She stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on M. Bender’s second RBI single of the game.
Rozdeba finished off the complete game shutout. The Jacks opened the seventh inning with three straight hits, but they ran themselves into an out, and Rozdeba struck out the final two batters of the game. She collected 11 strikeouts on the day, allowing five hits and two walks.
“When you get a shutout in this conference, it’s a good feat. It’s not easy to do,” Boehmer said. “This is pretty much a hitting conference. So if you can do that, it’s a nice bonus.”
The Royals will try to keep rolling with another doubleheader against the Jacks on Sunday, this time on the road. Then they’re back at home on Monday for two games against first-place North Dakota State College of Science.
“Building off these two sweeps is big,” Bender said. “I hope we get another sweep tomorrow, and maybe we’ll carry it through for the rest of the conference season.”
