The Dordt University softball team scored 21 runs in earning a pair of wins on Friday at the American State Bank Sports Complex Softball Classic played today at the Dome. The Defenders earned a 9-4 win over Valley City State (N.D.) in the afternoon and came back with a commanding 12-1, five-inning victory against Dakota State (S.D.) in the night-cap. 

Dordt improves its record to 8-1 this season heading into another two games on Saturday at the Dome. 

Game 1: Dordt def. Valley City State, 9-4 | Box Score

Dordt used a steady flow of offense and a complete-game effort from Rylee Yager to earn a 9–4 win over Valley City State in game one.

After a scoreless first inning, the Defenders struck first in the second. Lauren Steenstra opened the frame with a triple, and two batters later Sumaya Edwards delivered a two-run double to left-center, scoring Steenstra and Aubrey DeShaw for a 2–0 lead.

The Dordt bats kept rolling in the third. Chloe Kreuz led off with a solo home run, and after a walk to Yager, Annabelle Hensley followed with a two-run homer to extend the advantage to 5–0.

Valley City State responded with a three-run homer from Kennadi Stone in the fourth, tightening the score to 5-3. The Vikings later brought the score to within one (5-4) in the fifth on a passed ball.

Dordt immediately countered in the sixth. DeShaw singled and advanced on a sacrifice before Tera Lynn Price ripped an RBI triple to right-center, and Kreuz followed with an RBI triple of her own, pushing the Defenders ahead 6–4.

Dordt added cushion in the seventh. After a Steenstra single, pinch-runner Molly Zylstra scored on a pinch-hit RBI double by Addison Stephenson, and Edwards added her second RBI double of the day to make it 9–4.

Yager finished off the complete game, striking out six and allowing just five hits to improve to 4–0 on the season.

Edwards was one of the stars at plate for the Defenders, going 2-for-3 with three RBI. Kreuz added three hits and a pair of runs batted in while both Steenstra and Price both had two hits. Seven players in the Dordt line-up had at least one hit.

Grace Folkema (0-2) took the loss for VCSU, giving up three hits and four runs in two innings. Pascale Kihn was the only Vikings player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. 

Game 2: Dordt def. Dakota State 12-1 (5 innings) | Box Score

The Defenders plated 10 runs in the first inning en route to a 12-1, five-inning win over Dakota State in the final game on the East Field.

Dordt accounted for a total of seven hits, five for extra-bases, and seven walks. Tera Lynn Price led the way at the plate with two hits, including a triple and a home run, and three RBI. Both Lauren Steenstra and Payton Whipple drove in three runs and had one hit. Peyton Whipple added a three-run double and scored a pair of runs. 

Chloe Kreuz (2-0) went the distance in the circle, giving up three hits and striking out seven in five innings. 

The Defenders pushed across a season-best 10 runs in the first inning, doing so with five hits and earned seven walks against Dakota State pitching while sending 15 hitters to the plate. Lauren Steenstra struck first with a two-run triple and later came across home plate via a passed ball. 

Later in the inning, Peyton Whipple smacked a bases clearing double and scored when Price belted a two-run, home run for an 8-0 lead. Steenstra reached on a bases-loaded walk to make it 9-0 and the final Defenders run in the first was scored on a groundout hit by Taylor Schneider. 

Dakota State pushed across its only run in the third on an RBI single by Hannah McFarland.

Dordt finished off its scoring with two runs in the fourth inning. Molly Zylstra led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Sierra Pirkey. Price drove in Whipple with a triple to complete the scoring. 




 

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