Recap: @bearssoftball Downs Valparaiso Behind Vidal, Wiatrak

Sunday, March 11

Davis, CA

1:30 pm

University of Northern Colorado

13-12

Valparaiso

12-5

Northern Colorado

Valparaiso

Photo by: Rob Trubia

3/11/2018 6:58:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Northern Colorado jumped above .500 with a complete game performance

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

DAVIS, Calif.- Northern Colorado softball put together good pitching and aggressive hitting to defeat Valparaiso 6-2 on Sunday afternoon. UNC (13-12) improved to 3-1 in the Aggie Invitational and continues to improve its play each game.

Valerie Vidal would start in the circle for the Bears and was opposed by the Crusaders Kelsie Packard. Valparaiso scored early against Vidal in the bottom of the first inning, when Taylor Lawson stole two bases and then came home after an error on Emma Brockmann.

The Bears responded in the next half inning when Jordyn Wiatrak hit a solo homerun off of Packard to tie the game at one apiece.

UNC's hitters asserted themselves in the top of the fourth inning with Mady Young leading the inning off with a double. Kaley Garcia would then double to left field and Young would manage to score after a field error on Valparaiso. Next up was a Lauren Paige who delivered a single through the left side to score Garcia. A single from Wiatrak would put two runners on with no outs and two runs already in during the inning. Brockmann would double to center field and another Crusader error would allow Paige to score.

The three runs and five hits was enough to knock Packard out of the game after three innings. Emily Richardson would relieve Packard and she managed to get strikeout and a double play to end the inning. The damage had already been done and UNC had a 4-1 lead over Valparaiso.

The Crusaders got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Jaymee Lawton lead off the inning with a home run to make the score 4-2.

Besides the home run, Vidal was in control of the game, pitching seven innings, allowing one earned run on two hits, with six strikeouts and no walks.

UNC added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh when Kenzie Kudrna and Madi Schmidt both singled to lead off the inning. After Paige was hit by a pitch to the load the bases, Wiatrak came up with the hot bat and singled up the middle to score Kudrna and Schmidt.

With the Bears leading 6-2, Vidal pitched a one-two-three seventh inning to secure the victory for UNC.

Vidal earned her ninth win of the season after pitching another complete game and Wiatrak continued to deliver big hits for the Bears.

In their words

Shana Easley, Head Coach
"We competed well against a strong Valparaiso team. We knew going into the game that they relied on their pitching to win games and if we put pressure on their defense to make plays we would be successful. We adjusted well to their pitching going through all three pitchers and were back to showing the power we are capable of."

Notes

Valerie Vidal pitched her third complete game of the weekend against Valparaiso and has allowed only four runs in in 22 innings of pitched for a 1.27 ERA. Vidal is 9-5 this season, with a 1.91 ERA in 95.1 innings of work, along with 10 complete games.
Jordyn Wiatrak went 3-for-4 with three RBIs against the Crusaders and hit her third home run of the season. Wiatrak leads the Bears with 18 RBIs this year and is second on the team with a .319 average.

\Up Next
Northern Colorado will resume the game against UC-Davis that was suspended on Friday at 3:00 P.M. (MT) and then will play its regularly schedule game against UC-Davis at 4:00 P.M. or 15 minutes after conclusion of the suspended game. Live stats for the game are provided by UCDavisAggies.com. Follow the games live on Twitter with @bearssoftball.