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N.D. (JimmieAthletics.com) – Tifani Schorzman (JR/Coeur d’Alene, ID) crushed a pair of two-run home runs and Brittany Rheault (JR/West Fargo, ND) pitched a four-hit shutout as the No. 2 seeded Jimmie softball team opened the North Star Athletic Association conference tournament with a 6-0 win over seventh-seeded Presentation (S.D.) College at North Softball Complex Friday afternoon.
Schorzman’s first blast came in the bottom of the first and gave Jamestown a 2-0 lead.
She went yard with another two-run shot, this time in the bottom of the fourth, to push the Jimmie lead to 4-0.
Two more runs in the fifth made it 6-0 UJ, as Emma Keller (JR/Poulsbo, WA) tripled in a run and later scored a run of her own when Mikayla Frost (FR/Melba, ID) was caught trying to advance to second after drawing a walk.
Schorzman had a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, also adding a single, and drove in four. Keller had two hits, while Rheault, Miriah Yoder (SO/Devils Lake, ND) and Kylie Macaig (SO/Airdrie, AB) each had a hit.
Presentation’s leadoff batter Cortni Mendoza was the only hitter who gave Rheault trouble. Mendoza was 3–for-3 singling each time. Krystle Schewers also had a single for the Saints.
Rheault earned the victory and improved to 14-4 on the season. Ashlyn O’Keefe took the loss for Presentation, dropping to 10-15. She worked five innings,allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits. Amber Ewert relieved O’Keefe and pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
The Jimmies move to 37-18 overall and advanced to face Valley City State (N.D.) in the next round.
Against Valley City State, Jamestown scored seven times in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-1 victory. The game ended via the run rule.
Schorzman continued her big day at the plate, adding two more hits and driving in a run. Mikayla Frost and Macaig also had two hits. Frost now has 85 hits this season, tying her with Kayla Price (2007) for the second most in a season. She is just one away of tying the record of 86, set by Kelli Duvall in 2003. Keller, Chelsey Wolf (FR/Wapella, SK), Yoder, and Hanna Dunnigan (SR/Regina, SK) finished with a hit each.
Dunnigan allowed just two hits in going the distance, running her season record to 18-8. She struck out five hitters and passed the 200-strikeout mark for the season, becoming the first Jimmie pitcher to do so.
Schorzman scored the Jimmies’ first run in the bottom of the second. Kelly Halverson (SO/Surrey, BC)’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third scoring Macaig and made it 2-0.
A wild pitch by Dunnigan scored Kelli Moore in the top of the fourth, cutting the lead to 2-1. However, Dunnigan was able to retire the next four hitters in order to keep it 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth.
Dunnigan and Macaig had two-run singles and Keller, Halverson, Schorzman, and Wolf each drove in runs as a seven-run inning gave the Jimmies the win.
Morgan Nalley was the losing pitcher for the Vikings, working two innings and allowing two runs on two hits. Kelsey Hamade and Kelli Moore recorded VCSU’s hits.
Jamestown (38-18) will play the winner of Saturday’s 1:00 p.m. Presentation-VCSU game at 3:00 p.m. in the championship game of the “B” bracket.