Softball Rallies to Defeat #4-Seed Dakota Wesleyan; Advances to Midland Bracket Final
(Fremont, NE) – Following their opening-round win in the GPAC Tournament, #8-seed Hastings pulled off another stunner, knocking off #4-seed Dakota Wesleyan, 7-6, on Wednesday. The win marks the furthest that the Broncos have gotten in the GPAC Tournament since they won it all in 2017.
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(Fremont, NE) – Following their opening-round win in the GPAC Tournament, #8-seed Hastings pulled off another stunner, knocking off #4-seed Dakota Wesleyan, 7-6, on Wednesday. The win marks the furthest that the Broncos have gotten in the GPAC Tournament since they won it all in 2017.
Dakota Wesleyan led off the bottom of the second inning with a triple, which was immediately followed by an RBI-double to take an early 1-0 lead.
Senior Lauren Lee responded in the fourth inning with a solo home run to deep left to tie the game at one. Hastings had a chance for more runs in the inning, getting two on with two out, but the Tigers got out of the inning with a groundout to keep it tied.
In the bottom of the fourth, a leadoff double by the Tigers turned into a run on an RBI-groundout two batters later, putting Dakota Wesleyan up 2-1.
Hastings took control of the game in the fifth inning, as sophomore Graecy Graf walked to start the inning, then after senior Katyn Kappler beat out the throw on a bunt, sophomore Sofia Carroll walked to load the bases. A couple of opposite field singles by senior Lexie Mudloff and Lee moved everyone up a base to go up 3-2.
The offense continued for the Broncos in the fifth with junior Kaylee Pinneo bringing in a run on a sac fly. A couple of fly balls hit to the outfield in consecutive at-bats by seniors Ana Medeiros and Sam Skinner were dropped by Dakota Wesleyan, allowing Mudloff and Lee to score to take a 6-2 lead.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Lee walked and Pinneo singled. Medeiros lined a double to right center field to score Lee and give the Broncos a 7-2 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Dakota Wesleyan loaded the bases with one out. Hastings got the second out, but a walk made it a 7-3 game. With the Bronco outfield playing shallow, the Tigers hit a single in the gap that was cut off by a diving Kappler. Two runs scored on the play, but the play by Kappler resulted in the runner at first being caught in a rundown for the final out of the inning, still with a 7-5 lead.
With senior Bailey Schmit pitching the seventh inning, the Tigers singled to start the inning, but a double play quickly gave the Broncos two outs. Hastings gave Dakota Wesleyan some life with a fielding error, then committed a throwing error on a base hit to right, allowing a run to cross the plate and make it 7-6. Schmit closed out the game with a strikeout to seal the win and send the Broncos to the championship games of the Midland bracket tomorrow.
Up next, Hastings will play tomorrow at 2pm for the championship of the Midland Bracket in Fremont. They will face winner of Midland versus Dakota Wesleyan, who play each other at noon tomorrow. The winner of that game will take on the Broncos, who would get a second championship game immediately after with a loss.
