Johnson and Reddacliff Lead @BearsSoftball's Sweep of UND

Saturday, April 22

Greeley, CO

2:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

19-30, 7-8

University of North Dakota

19-28, 5-9

North Dakota

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

4/22/2017 4:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Greeley, Colo – The weather may have changed overnight in Greeley, bringing warm temperatures to Gloria Rodriguez Field, but Northern Colorado's play never wavered, producing their third win in as many games against North Dakota, 1-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After pitching 10 innings without giving up a run Friday against the Fighting Hawks, Jayme Reddacliff was focused to close out the series with another complete performance.

Kaylin VanDomelen, UND's starting pitcher, singled up the middle in the first inning and made her way to second on an errant throw from short.

Just like the previous day, Northern Colorado stood strong and left VanDomelen alone at second base, after Reddacliff's first strikeout of the afternoon.

Erica Dick notched a single of her own in the bottom half of the opening frame. However, the senior was caught stealing before the Bears could mount an offensive charge.

Back and forth VanDomelen and Reddacliff went, inning after inning. Two of the best pitchers in the Big Sky Conference showed their prowess, one never upstaging the other.

Rachel Johnson provided the defense in the second inning, grabbing a double play all by herself, diving for a line drive and tapping on first to double up the runner.

In the third inning, it was a combination of Erica Dick, Jordyn Wiatrak and Adeline Coldiron that stopped the Fighting Hawks from scoring. A garden variety 6-5-2, put out at home sent UND back to the dugout still looking for the first run of the ballgame.

Meanwhile, the UNC offense, while competing hard at the plate, was finding difficulty pushing runners across. In the second, third and fourth innings, the Bears tallied only one base runner in Sophia Taylor but she never made it passed first and the game remained knotted at zero.

Again, North Dakota stayed aggressive on the base pads in the top of the fifth inning, sending a runner home off a one-out single. Cheyenne Talmadge wasn't about to let her team trail for only the second time in three games, though, as she rifled her throw to Adeline Coldiron standing at home, catching the runner before she could touch home.

There the game stood, 0-0, until Northern Colorado's new clutch batter, Rachel Johnson stepped to the plate. This time, on a 1-1 count, Johnson sent VanDomelen's pitch back to the parking lot and suddenly coach Easley and the Bears had the lead they were looking for.

VanDomelen looked to get it right back with a double to lead-off the sixth. She even made it to third off UNC's third error of the game, but two straight groundouts to third base and shortstop axed the Fighting Hawk attack.

In the final frame, Reddacliff gave up just a single hit, and trusting her defense like she has all season long, three groundouts gave Northern Colorado their sweep, 1-0.

KEY STAT
Runners left on base – Northern Colorado left two runners on the base pads Saturday. North Dakota was forced to strand eight runners.

MOST VALUABLE BEAR
Jayme Reddacliff – The Bears' all-time wins leader notched her 11^th win of the season, pitcher her third complete game shutout of the year.

IN THEIR WORDS
Shana Easley, Head Coach
"In our conference, it's anybody's game on any given day. It's been awesome to play in front of a home crowd and get three huge wins in the conference."

"We didn't give up a single earned run this entire series. That's a great accomplishment for our Jayme and our pitchers."

Rachel Johnson, First Baseman
"Honestly, I have been seeing the ball very well this weekend. When I was at the plate, I knew she wasn't going to beat me."

"Last season, they beat us pretty handily, it was nice to return the favor this year."

NOTABLES
-Rachel Johnson provided the winning hit for the second time in as many games.
-Erica Dick surpassed Melissa Marcovecchio on the career walks list, setting a new record with 78.
-Rachel Johnson grabbed her first unassisted double play of the year.
-UNC jumps from tied for seventh to fourth in the Big Sky after sweeping North Dakota.

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado heads on the road to face Sacramento State next weekend. They'll return home to Gloria Rodriguez Field for senior weekend against Idaho State on Friday, May 5.