Photo by Noah Clooten
The Lake Region State College softball team won both home games against Jamestown JV on Wednesday. The Royals (7-32, 3-17) have now won four in a row, dating back to Monday’s conference wins over Dakota College at Bottineau.
LRSC won 7-5 and 5-4 to edge out the Jimmies in non-conference play.
In Game 1, Taylor Martin pitched a complete game with five runs (two earned) allowed on 11 hits and two walks while striking out one. She gave up two of those runs on five hits in the first inning, and the Royals trailed 3-0 after an error by shortstop Whitney Rozdeba led to a run in the top of the second.
LRSC stormed back to tie it in the bottom of the second, getting an RBI single from Chesnee Isom, an RBI groundout from Rozdeba and an RBI single by Maggie Bender that made it 3-3.
Another error by Rozdeba led to another unearned run in the fourth, as the Jimmies took a 4-3 lead. But LRSC tied it back up in the fifth, as Madden Wiebe led off with a single and eventually came around to score on a passed ball.
Jamestown briefly retook the lead once again in the sixth inning with a pair of two-out hits. In the bottom half, Rozdeba walked, and Bender and Avery Kamelchuk each singled to load the bases. Wiebe made it 5-5 with an RBI single, and LRSC scored two more runs in the frame on passed balls.
Martin pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to finish out the 7-5 victory.
In Game 2, Kallie Mielke pitched a complete game with four runs (three earned) allowed on nine hits and two walks while striking out two.
Once again, Jamestown scored two in the first to take an early lead. The first four batters of the game all collected hits. The second run of the frame scored on a double-steal attempt where the back runner was thrown out but the lead runner scored before the tag.
LRSC put up a five-spot — its entire offense for the game — in the bottom of the first to take a lead it would never relinquish. After an error and a hit by pitch to lead off the frame, Bender hit an RBI double, and the tying run scored on a passed ball. Two runs scored on RBI groundouts, while Mya Dueck added an RBI single.
It remained 5-2 all the way until the seventh. Mielke retired seven in a row at one point. Two singles and a bunt loaded the bases in the final frame, and a pair of runs scored on a double. With the potential tying run at third and go-ahead run at second with one out, Mielke recorded a massive strikeout. She issued a walk to reload the bases, but ended the game with a popout to the first baseman.
LRSC hosts first-place North Dakota State College of Science (35-12-1, 16-2) on Thursday at 3 p.m. for its final scheduled home games of the regular season. The Royals sit in sixth place out of seven teams.
The Royals baseball team also played Jamestown JV on Wednesday, over in Jamestown. They rested nearly all of their regulars and lost 19-9 in a nine-inning game. They had their catcher, Logan Dearborn, playing shortstop, and their DH, Jamison Nelson, coming out of the bullpen, among other wacky lineup arrangements.
LRSC scored all nine of its runs in the sixth inning. The outburst featured five hits, five errors and a walk. It cut the deficit to 14-9 at the time.
Each of the four LRSC pitchers allowed at least four runs overall and at least two earned runs. The only inning in which Jamestown didn’t score was the first. The Royals’ Dearborn, Luke Mineault and Carson Beuadin each recorded multiple hits.
The LRSC baseball team also hosts NDSCS on Thursday, with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The Royals have won four consecutive conference games.
