May 20, 2010

DECATUR, Ala. - Bethel (Ind.) and Lubbock Christian (Texas) walked away with wins in Pool D action in the opening day of the 2010 NAIA Softball National Championship at Wilson Morgan Softball Complex Thursday.

Bethel (46-7) defeated Morningside (Iowa) 5-1 in eight innings to give the Mustangs their eighth loss of the season (39-8). Kelli Zache started for the Pilots and fanned nine in six innings, allowing one run on only three hits. Rachel Zirille entered in relief in the seventh to take the win. Zirille gave up one walk and struck out three in two innings of work. Kelly Baumert threw all eight frames for Morningside, giving up five earned runs on 11 hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

After three scoreless innings, Kirsten Dargy went yard in the bottom of the fourth to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Bethel answered in the sixth with two bunt base hits from Tara Blair and Holly Weaver. A sacrifice bunt from Sarah Rassi advanced the runners and a sac fly from Brittney Fisher scored Blair to tie the game at 1-1. Still tied going into the top of the eighth, Rassi led off for the Pilots with a double to left-center. Katie Boocher reached on a walk and Fisher singled to center, advancing both runners. Three batters later, with two outs and bases loaded, Kaitlyn Dubois hit a grand slam to give Bethel a 5-1 lead. Morningside had the first three batters reach on an error and two fielder's choice plays in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn't enough and the Pilots held on for the win.

The Mustangs combined for just three hits in 29 at-bats with 12 strikeouts on the day.

Lubbock Christian (53-6) took an easy win over IU Southeast (33-13), snapping the Grenadiers nine-game winning streak. Alyssa Gutierrez threw a complete-game shutout to get the win for the Lady Chaps, allowing just five hits with six strikeouts. Kayla Duke took the loss for IU Southeast, giving up four runs on six hits in one inning of work. Kelsey Everett pitched five innings in relief and gave up two runs on six hits.

Lubbock Christian struck early and took four from the Grenadiers in the bottom of the first off a two-run home run from Kayla Van Dieren, followed by four more hits from the middle of the order to drive in two more runs. In the bottom of the second, the Lady Chaps took two more runs on three hits from the top of the order in Jennifer Frazier, Van Dieren and Priscilla FaGaines. The three combined to go 6-for-12 in the contest.

The Grenadiers couldn't find any momentum against Gutierrez's pitching and only recorded five hits, with four errors contributing to the loss.

Friday's action in Pool D features Lubbock Christian against Morningside at 9 a.m. and Bethel facing IU Southeast at 2 p.m.