SIOUX CITY, Iowa-- The University of Jamestown softball team completed a four-game sweep of its homestand in Sioux City, defeating Doane (Neb.) 9-8 in 11 innings and 3-2 Monday afternoon.
The games were originally scheduled to be played in Jamestown on Sunday, but weather conditions forced the postponement and change of venue.
Jamestown is now is sole possession of fourth place in the Great Plains Athletic Conference standings at 9-5, and are 25-11 overall.
UJ travels to Aberdeen, S.D., Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader against Presentation College at 3 p.m.
Game 1: Jimmies 9, Tigers 8 (11 innings)
Extra innings were needed to determine a winner in Monday's opener as Jamestown and Doane played to a 5-5 tie after seven innings.
In the bottom of the 11th, Morgan Geiszler (SO/Horace, ND) hit an infield single to score Mariah Martinez (FR/Visalia, Calif.) with the game-winning run as the Jimmies took game one 9-8.
Doane took an 8-7 lead into the bottom of the 11th, but Martinez singled to score Miriah Yoder (SR/Devils Lake, ND) to make it an 8-8 game. Yoder began the inning on second base under international tiebreaker rules. A groundout by Lorigan Steuben (FR/Yacolt, Wash.) moved Martinez to third, and an infield single by Mikayla Frost (JR/Melba, ID) put runners on the corners with one out. Frost stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Geiszler, whose single hit the dirt a few inches in front of home plate, creating a difficult ball to field for Doane's pitcher and catcher.
Allie McCain (SR/Duvall, WA) had a 3-for-6 day at the plate with 3 RBI, two of which came when the Jimmies trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. McCain also threw out a potential go-ahead runner at the plate from left field in the ninth to keep the game knotted at 5-5.
Frost and Santina Zito (FR/Boise, Idaho) also managed three hits for UJ, and Martinez and Geiszler both recorded a pair.
Kat Miska (SO/Pequot Lakes, MN) (12-4) went all 11 innings in the circle, allowing three earned runs on 13 hits. She walked nine and struck out four.
Game 2: Jimmies 3, Tigers 2
Katie Merchant (FR/South Haven, Minn.) gave up two runs on seven hits while going the distance in her seventh complete game of the year as the Jimmies won 3-2.
Merchant (11-6) was helped out defensively by McCain and Mariah Wick (SO/Jamestown, N.D.), with both outfielders throwing runners out at the plate. McCain's rocket from left nabbed Taylor Mashburn to end the fifth, while Wick unloaded a dart from center field that caught Haley Kennedy with the potential game-tying run.
Yoder and Meghan Ramage (SR/Grand Forks, ND) had run-scoring hits for the Jimmies and Courtney Espinoza (JR/Avondale, Ariz.) tallied the third UJ run, scoring on a passed ball. Katied Reisdorfer had two hits in three trips to the plate, while Geiszler and Espinoza also had hits.
