ABERDEEN, S.D. – Lady Argo softball is off to the best start in program history, sweeping its games on both days of the Presentation College Dome Classic to start the year 4-0. If the first day was about discovering what the team looked like after replacing six starters from last year's roster, the second day of the tournament was about UGF starting to prove itself.
In an early morning contest against the College of Saint Mary, the Lady Argos got their first test in a close game, winning 4-3 in the 8th inning. The next game was UGF's first test against a ranked foe, and the team rose to the occasion, beating (21) Dickinson State 7-2.
A concerning habit of giving up early leads that began the previous day, continued against College of Saint Mary. The Flames score one run in both the top of the 2nd and the top of the 3rd, while UGF left three runners on base in the first two innings.
The Lady Argos got one back, taking advantage of an error from the opponent's defense. That came with senior
Paige Bodner at the plate and two UGF runners already on base. Bodner hit a grounder to short, but the ball was bobbled and the bases were filled.
One unearned run drove in by the next batter, senior first baseman
Jackie Thomas who brought junior outfielder
Bailey Henderson across home plate with a single. Next up for UGF was Hailey Gruntowicz, the Lady Argo's best hitting in 2016, but with two out and the bases loaded, the senior struck out swinging.
In the top of the 4th, the Flames went back up by two, getting a solo home run with the first batter of the inning. The 3-1 lead was still intact by the bottom of the 6th, and during that time, three more UGF runners were left on base.
Finally, in the 6th, the Lady Argos started to bring those runners home. A walk of the opening batter put a runner on base, but the next two batters didn't read base safely and that runner was suddenly in danger of being stranded.
Redshirt-freshman
Mikayla Deigan took care of that, hitting her first double of the season and driving junior
Makaylee Jaussi home. Senior
Morgan Robinson came in to pinch run for Deigan and scored the tying run off a double from Henderson.
The score remained tied through the seventh and in the top of the first extra inning, UGF Head Coach
Joey Egan brought in junior to relieve Deigan who had pitched two innings after relieving starter,
Brie Clifford.
George got into trouble, loading the bases with only one out. The Western Nevada College transfer showed a cool demeanor, avoiding panic and striking out the next batter and then forcing a line out to end the inning without a run.
George's teammate from Western Nevada, Jaussi led off the bottom of the 8th with a triple to let and all but did it. After a lineout to second, senior catcher
Jocelyn Kaufman laid down a perfect bunt to bring Jaussi across the plate.
There was a lot less drama in UGF's game against (21) Dickinson State, though the first few inning continued to the Lady Argo's already established pattern.
A walk and a dropped fly ball in the top of the 1st inning gave the Blue Hawks an early 1-0 run that UGF quickly negated.
After going up three up, three down in the bottom of the first, Bodner started the bottom of the 2nd with a single to left. A fly ball to right and a pop-up to third followed, but single from Jaussi brought Bodner home to tie the game at 1-1.
Two straight throwing errors brought Jaussi home and a single from Henderson drove in junior Gabriel Canibeyaz to make the score 3-1.
That lead would've been enough to hang on to, thanks to a great next five innings on the mound from Abeyta and Deigan. While Dickinson scored on an unearned run in the 6th, the two pitchers wouldn't allow another hit in the game.
Still, UGF added to the lead with another 3-run rally in the 4th, led by a 2 RBI single from Bodner. Another encouraging development was a home run from Gruntowicz in the 5th. Before the solo jack, the senior was 2-12 at the plate, striking out four times.
Deigan ended the PC Dome Classic as the tournament leader in opponent batting average, allowing 0.141 percentage while facing 31 batters.
UGF showcased an incredibly balanced offense on the day, with seven different batters earning RBIs over the course of the two games and eight different runners scoring. The most effective was Henderson who went 5-8 on the day with 3 RBI and 2 runs.
The Lady Argos were one of two teams to go 4-0 in the tournament, joining University of Jamestown. UGF will stick around in South Dakota for a doubleheader against the host of the tournament, Presentation College on Monday, February 20 at 10 a.m. and Noon MT.
