The Weber State University softball team swept the University of North Dakota in a 3-game series on March 31 and April 1.
The weekend series served as the home opener for the Weber State University Wildcats. They’ve played their first 29 games on the road this season.
The weekend began with a banner game for junior pitcher Kirtlyn Bohling who delivered nine strikeouts, tied for the most in a single game in her career.
After two months on the road, the Wildcats were excited to have a game at home.
“We have the best fans. We have the best grounds crew, and it just all comes together when we’re at home,” Bohling said. “It’s super fun to play here in Ogden.”
Bohling’s team backed her up at the plate as well as in the field. The ’Cats ran away with the victory after a pair of runs the team scored in the fourth inning.
The second game of the doubleheader proved to be slightly more challenging for the Wildcats.
The University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks took an early 3–0 lead in the second inning. The Wildcats found their way onto the scoreboard in the third inning as freshman Takesha Saltern drove in the opening run.
North Dakota responded in the fifth inning to take their lead back up to three runs, but by the sixth inning, the Wildcats had cut the lead to one run.
The back-and-forth scoring wasn’t an issue for the Wildcats, as they came away victorious with a score of 8–7.
The final game of the series began at noon on April 1, and on a sunny afternoon, the teams squared up for the final game of the weekend series.
The Fighting Hawks jumped out to a 3–0 lead in the top of the third inning. They held that lead for the next two innings as the Wildcat bats seemed to have cooled down for the weekend.
The bats warmed up in the bottom of the fifth inning. After scoring a pair of runs early in the inning, junior left fielder Rae Gall tripled with the bases loaded, driving home three runs.
“I was feeling really confident in the batter’s box, and I knew that my team would be behind me to get the job done if I didn’t,” Gall said.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on, especially during that fifth inning — scoring eight runs total to give Weber a five-run lead over UND.
A collision in the sixth inning forced WSU junior second baseman McKinley Brinkerhoff to leave the game with an injury to her shoulder.
The team later announced that Brinkerhoff will miss the remainder of the season.
The Wildcats allowed just one more run for the remainder of the game, giving WSU their third victory, with a score of 8–4.
“Putting the ball in play hard, making sure that we were making good contact and making adjustments were key,” said softball coach Mary Kay Amicone.
The Wildcats will be back in Ogden on April 14 against Portland State University with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
