The Lady Bulldog softball team traveled to North Mankato for the state softball tournament last Thursday and Friday.  The Bulldogs were the #3 seed finished fourth in the tournament.

 

 

Becker took on unseeded Mahtomedi in the quarterfinals Thursday and the game got off to a rocky start for the Bulldogs as the Zephyrs put up three runs in the top of the first on a two walks, two base hits, a hit by pitch and a fielders choice.  

 

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the third when the Bulldog bats finally came to life.  Kurstyn Patnode led off with a single and moved to second on a Cammie Varney sacrifice bunt.  Emily Lamott followed with an RBI double to score Patnode.  Corrie Weise followed with a single to score Lamott.  Krista Paulson then singled to score Weise and tie the score at three.  

 

The Bulldogs would add one more run in the inning when Cadence Koste singled in Paulson to make it 4-3.  

 

The score stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the Zephyrs tied things up with two singles.

 

It appeared that things were headed to extra innings in the bottom of the seventh. However, Koste had other ideas.  After Emma Eickhoff reached on a fielder's choice, Jaida Johnson came on to run for her.  Koste roped a 3-1 pitch to the fence in left-center and Johnson came all the way around from first to score the game winning run.  

 

Weise picked up the win, going all seven innings.  She allowed four runs on six hits and three walks.  She struck out six batters.  

Varney, Koste, and Weise each had two hits for the Bulldogs.

 

 

With the win, the Bulldogs advanced to take on #2 seed Northfield in the semifinals.  

 

The Raiders feature an all-state pitcher and it figured that runs would be tough to come by for both teams.  However the Bulldogs wasted no time putting up two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  

 

After Emily Lamott led off with a walk, Weise followed with a single to put runners on first and second.  Paulson followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and Eickhoff singled to score Lamott.  Koste followed with a bunt to score Weise to put the Bulldogs up.  

 

Despite some threats from both teams, the pitchers settled in and the score stayed 2-0 until the top of the fifth when the Raiders bunched together four hits and tallied two runs to tie the game.   

 

The Bulldogs were retired quickly in the fifth, and after the leadoff batter was retired in the top of the 6th, the Raiders singled, advanced the runner to second on a bunt and moved her to third on a passed ball.  The next batter singled to make it 3-2 Northfield.  After a stolen base, the following batter hit a pop-up behind second, but the Bulldog fielders were not able to get there and another run scored.  

 

The #3 batter for the Raiders then blew the game open with a two-run homer to make it 6-2.  

 

Eickhoff came on in relief to pitch for the Bulldogs and allowed two singles, but got out of the jam.  

 

The Bulldogs put two runners on base in the bottom of the inning when Paulson reached on a bunt and Avery Tamm singled, but weren't able to plate a run and the Raiders added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.  

 

Weise was the losing pitcher, going 5-2/3 innings allowing six runs on 13 hits.  She struck out three.  

 

Eickhoff went the final 1-1/3 innings and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks and had two strikeouts.  

 

Weise, Eickhoff, Tamm, and Varney had the only hits for the Bulldogs.

 

 

The Bulldogs returned to the field Friday to take on #4 seed Cloquet in the third place game.  

 

Once again, the Bulldogs got on the board first when Eickhoff led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run.  

 

Cloquet answered with a run in the bottom of the third  to tie the game at one.

 

In the bottom of the fourth, Cloquet added another run on a walk, sacrifice bunt, and single to take the 2-1 lead.  

 

Cloquet put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth with four runs  and added five more in the sixth to end the game with a score of 11-1.  

 

Weise took the loss, going 4-1/3 innings and allowing five runs.  Eickhoff finished the final 1-1/3 innings, allowing six runs.  Eickhoff had two hits in the game, while Weise, Koste, and Kaylyn Wiehle each added a hit.

 

The Bulldogs finished the state tournament with a 4th place finish.  Corrie Weise was named to the All-Tournament team.