It took two contests, but the Benedictine University softball team reached the NACC Championship by winning an elimination game on Saturday.
Benedictine opened the day with a one-run loss to Concordia Wisconsin by a 3-2 score. Concordia Wisconsin scored three times in the first and held on for the win. Benedictine opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first on a
Haley Barnes RBI double. The team pulled within a run when
Breanne Deutscher scored on a wild pitch in the third but the team could get no closer.
Morgan Bruno recorded two hits in the loss.
Mckenzie Johnson took the loss in the circle.
The team reached the title game by slugging to an extra-inning win over Dominican. Down 2-0, Benedictine scored four runs in the second to take the lead.
Taylor Oppenhuis doubled home a run and Johnson coaxed a walk to force in the tying run. Deutscher stroked a two-run single to give Benedictine the lead. The advantage grew to 6-2 behind a
Jasmine Lozano RBI single in the fifth and a
Victoria Duszynski RBI single in the seventh. Dominican scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and send the contest to extras. It took until the ninth, but Oppenhuis came through with a two-run single to account for the victory.
Lozano and Oppenhuis both tallied three hits.
Jenna Bartke added two. Lozano earaned the win in the circle with 2.2 innings of work.
Benedictine (30-14) will meet Concordia Wisconsin at 12:00pm needing two victories to secure the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
