The Jimmie softball team opened the home portion of its 2016 schedule with a sweep of Dakota State (S.D.) in a pair of North Star Athletic Association games. UJ won 10-2 and 10-1 to improve to 19-6 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
Dakota State took an early 2-0 lead on Elizabeth Rubacalva's two-run home run. The Jimmies would answer with two runs of their own on the way to scoring 10 unanswered over the course of the game.
Emily Newman hit the first of her three doubles to bring home Sydney Jeffers for UJ's first run. Two batters later, Brittany Rheault hit a sacrifice fly to score Newman and make it 2-2.
Jeffers tripled to lead off the bottom of the third and scored on Rylee Perez's squeeze bunt to make it 3-2. Linda Ontiveros made it 4-2 after the fourth, scoring Hanna Dunnigan with an RBI single.
UJ added three runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Newman, an RBI groundout by Autumn Wang, and an RBI single by Hanna Dunnigan.
Jamestown added three runs on two hits and three Trojan errors in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game by the mercy rule.
Brittany Rheault (8-3) earned the win, pitching her eighth complete game of the season. She gave up two runs on three hits, walked two and struck out six.
The Jimmies kept their bats going in game two, scoring three runs in their first at bat. Emily Newman had an RBI single and Hanna Dunnigan hit a grounder that was misplayed to allow two more runs to score.
Ariana Duran singled home April Pisk in the fourth inning as Dakota State cut the Jimmie lead to 3-1. Dunnigan hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to put the Jimmies up again by three, 4-1.
Dunnigan hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to push the UJ lead to 6-1. Jamestown ended the game with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, courtesy of an RBI double by Connie Miller, an error by the DSU second baseman, and a two-run home run by Autumn Wang.
Earning the win was Dunnigan, who improved to 7-2 on the season. She went the distance in her fifth complete game, striking out 11 and scattering eight hits.
The two teams will play another pair of games Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
