LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska Wesleyan University softball split a Senior Day American Rivers Conference doubleheader against Dubuque Saturday at Championship Stadium at the Sandhills Global Youth Complex, taking the opener 8-3 before falling 4-1 in the nightcap.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE: NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 8, DUBUQUE 3
Nebraska Wesleyan wasted no time setting the tone, plating two runs in each of the first two innings. In the bottom of the first, a Kylie Fullerton RBI double scored Addyson Maxell, and Jenna Kimberling crossed on a passed ball to put the Prairie Wolves up 2-0. The second inning saw Kimberling come through again, lining a two-RBI single to center field to score Kenzie Heedum and Taylor Korecky and extend the lead to 4-0.
Nebraska Wesleyan added three more in the fourth, highlighted by a Kimberling RBI triple to right center and an Eva Fahrnbruch RBI single to push the advantage to 7-2. Macy Santoni added the cushion in the fifth, coming in as a pinch hitter and smacking a triple to right field before scoring on a Hayden Thomas groundout.
Kimberling finished the afternoon 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, anchoring the Nebraska Wesleyan offensive effort. In the circle, Fahrnbruch went the distance, allowing just two earned runs on eight hits while throwing 86 pitches. She moved to 11-7 on the season with the complete-game win.
GAME TWO: DUBUQUE 4, NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 1
The nightcap was a different story. Dubuque's Ciaran Rigby matched Nebraska Wesleyan pitch for pitch through the first four innings, keeping the Prairie Wolves off the board and in the dugout. The Spartans broke the scoreless tie in the fifth, capitalizing on a Paige Comstock fielding error on a bunt and loading the bases before Lauren Jacobs cleared the bags with a two-run double to right center.
Nebraska Wesleyan responded with its lone run in the bottom of the fifth when Kimberling tripled to right center, scoring Kenzie Heedum who had reached on a Spartan error. Dubuque tacked on two more in the seventh off Fahrnbruch in relief, with back-to-back RBI knocks from Payton Santore and Jacobs ending any hope of a comeback.
Rigby went all seven innings for the Spartans, allowing just one unearned run on seven hits to improve to 5-6. Jaedyn Ratzlaff took the loss for Nebraska Wesleyan, dropping to 2-6, after allowing two earned runs through five innings.
UP NEXT
Nebraska Wesleyan will take on another conference opponent when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to take on Coe College in a makeup series that was postponed earlier this year on Friday, April 24. Game one of the American Rivers Conference doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
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