Beavers upset Hawks for DAC title

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VALLEY CITY — Minot State leaned on the strong right arm of Mandy Greenburg for the third time against Dickinson State in the Dakota Athletic Conference Tournament.

With a conference title on the line, Greenburg got the best of the Blue Hawks.

Greenburg dueled with DSU pitcher Sara Jane Webster and got enough run production out of her teammates to help the Beavers end the Blue Hawks’ DAC tournament title streak at three Monday morning.

Molly Lundeen had a two-run homer and Janessa Penner added a two-run double in the second inning and top-seeded DSU couldn’t recover, falling 3-2 in the second championship game.

DSU forced the second title game with a 6-4 win over the second-seeded Beavers on Sunday night.

It was Minot State’s second DAC tournament title. DSU had beaten the Beavers in the conference title games in 2008 and 2009.

DSU’s only runs came in the third inning when Nickie Youngblood’s triple scored Vanessa Adame and Kelly Jahn hit a single to bring in Youngblood.

The Blue Hawks (33-11) left three on base in the inning and ended the game with two on when Jahn lined out to second base.

“It’s a downer for us right now, but I think we’re going to be able to bounce back and get an at-large bid to the national tournament,” DSU head coach Kristen Fleury said.

Despite losing out on the conference title and the all-important automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament, Fleury believes the Blue Hawks will earn an at-large bid when the tournament field is announced this morning.

DSU, ranked 11th in the NAIA’s final coaches poll of the regular season, should earn the last of six at-large bids in the 32-team tournament based on their ranking.

“There’s a lot of other great teams in the nation that aren’t making it,” Fleury said. “We’re lucky enough to be able to go back.”

As for the pitchers dual, Greenburg struck out seven and walked two while Webster struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Both pitchers gave up eight hits.

DSU beat Minot State (32-13) five of eight times this season. Greenburg pitched in every one of those games.

“Mandy Greenburg, she’s a great pitcher,” Fleury said. “We couldn’t catch her. That’s the best pitching we’ve seen since we saw them early in the season.”

DSU 002 000 0 — 2 8 1

MSU 030 000 x — 3 8 1

Sara Jane Webster and Erika Arvizo. Mandy Greenburg and Lindsey Landles. W–Greenburg. L–Webster. HR–MSU, Molly Lundeen.

Highlights: DSU, Vanessa Adame 2-for-4, run; Nickie Youngblood 1-for-4, RBI, run; Kelly Jahn 1-for-4, RBI; Carly Patterson 2-for-3. MSU, Janessa Penner 2-for-3, 2 RBI; Kyla Thiesen 2-for-3; Molly Lundeen 1-for-3, HR; Melissa Elliot 1-for-3, run.

Records: DSU 33-11, MSU 32-13.

Sunday’s recap

DSU ran into Greenburg in the tournament’s semifinal game on Sunday afternoon.

But, a few hours and a win later, the Blue Hawks were able to get back at Greenburg and the Beavers with a 6-4 victory in the tournament’s first championship game.

Minot State beat the Blue Hawks 2-0 as Greenburg struck out 10 and gave up just one hit in the semifinal.

DSU turned around bashed three homers to beat third-seeded Jamestown College 9-1 in a loser out game and used Danielle Crawford’s three-run go-ahead home run in the sixth inning to beat the Beavers the second time around.

In the semifinal, Greenburg completely silenced DSU’s bats while Tiffany Friesen put the Beavers ahead 1-0 with a solo homer in the fifth inning. Brittany Bartel added an RBI single in the top of the seventh to put DSU in a two-run hole.

Webster gave up six hits but struck out nine in the loss.

Facing elimination against Jamestown, the Blue Hawks got a big performance out of freshman pitcher Taysia Kaufman in the circle and also found the pop in their bats that was missing from their loss to Minot State.

Jessica Huseby tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning with a solo homer and Youngblood put DSU ahead for good with a two-run homer in the third.

DSU ended the game via the eight-run rule after scoring six runs on five hits and four Jamestown errors in the sixth inning.

DSU senior third baseman Jody Lantz opened up the day’s second game against Minot State with a two-run homer.

But, a two-run homer by Beavers catcher Lindsey Landles gave Minot State a 4-2 advantage.

Crawford’s home run put DSU up for good and Adame added an RBI single to put DSU ahead 6-4.

Webster and Greenburg dueled again. This time, Webster gave up 11 hits and struck out just three while Greenburg struck out five and gave up eight hits.

Minot State 2, Dickinson State 0

DSU 000 010 1 — 2 6 1

MSU 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Sara Jane Webster and Erika Arvizo. Mandy Greenburg and Lindsey Landles. W–Greenburg. L–Webster. HR–MSU, Tiffany Friesen.

Highlights: MSU, Mandy Greenburg CG, 10 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 0 R; Janessa Penner 1-for-3; Tiffan Friesen 2-for-3, HR; Brittany Bartel 1-for-3, RBI. DSU, Brittney Rivas 1-for-2; Webster CG, 9 K, 0 BB, 2 ER, 6 H.

Dickinson State 9, Jamestown College 1

JC 100 000 — 1 5 4

DSU 012 006 — 9 11 1

Kate Street, Jessica Lees (6) and Courtney Wong. Taysia Kaufman and Erika Arvizo. W–Kaufman. L–Street. HR–DSU, Nickie Youngblood; Jessica Huseby.

Highlights: JC, Celene Eccles 2-for-3; Wong 2-for-3. DSU, Vanessa Adame 4-for-4, RBI, 2 runs; Youngblood 1-for-3, 3 RBI, 2 runs; Sara Jane Webster 0-for-3, RBI; Jody Lantz 1-for-3, RBI; Danielle Crawford 1-for-3, RBI; Jessica Huseby 1-for-3, RBI, run; Brittney Rivas 1-for-3, RBI, run; Kaufman CG, 1 K, 0 BB, 5 H, 0 ER.

Dickinson State 6, Minot State 4

DSU 200 004 1 — 6 8 3

MSU 000 130 0 — 4 11 3

Sara Jane Webster and Erika Arvizo. Mandy Greenburg and Lindsey Landles.

W–Webster. L–Greenburg. HR–DSU, Jody Lantz, Danielle Crawford; MSU, Landles.

Highlights: DSU, Vanessa Adame 2-for-4, RBI; Webster 2-for-3, run, CG, 3 K, 1 BB, 4 ER; Lantz 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Crawford 3-for-3, HR, RBI. MSU, Greenburg CG, 5 K, 4 BB, 5 ER; Landles 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Molly Lundeen 3-for-4, RBI.

Tags: blue hawks, sports, softball, naia