Softball road trip filled with potholes

The UND women’s softball team finished up a rough road trip this past weekend when it faced Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho.

The team was finally able to play some games after having its previous 10 games cancelled due to weather and poor field conditions. The games did not go as well as planned as all three ending up in losses.

The doubleheader on Friday resulted in a 10-2 loss and a 19-0 loss while Saturday’s game did not end up any better with a 11-2 loss.

The key point of the weekend was UND being outhit and outscored on the scoreboard.

“The other team hit way better than we did,” UND coach Eric Oakley said.

The team couldn’t find a way to step up at all in either of the three games this weekend. Idaho State was able to find a way to stop UND’s offense from scoring and also break down the defense so it could score as well.

In the first of the three games, Idaho was able to start with the lead and keep it throughout the game without UND scoring back until late in the game, but by then it was already too late and there was already a five run lead.

The second game did not go any better for North Dakota as Idaho scored early as it tallied up runs on the scoreboard and UND wasn’t able to get a comeback going. The first two games were shortened to just five innings each. The third game of the three went six total innings and UND was able to hang on to a 1-1 tie until the fourth inning when Idaho State scored and took the lead, which it never gave up, and won 11-2.

“We kept it close early, but made some costly mistakes to put it out of reach,” Oakley said. “Credit to Amanda Johnson and Caralyn Chewning for fighting hard to make something happen.

“We just need to be more competitive.”

UND will look to rebound from these games as it will finish up regular season play this weekend. The team will be at home against Portland State in a three game series with a doubleheader Friday starting at 2 p.m. and finishing up with one game Saturday.

Holland can be reached at [email protected]