Bulldogs nip Mounders, fall to Buffs in softball
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A pair of conference road games yielded different results for the Boyceville softball team last week.
The Bulldogs traveled to Elk Mound Tuesday, April 30 and edged out the Mounders for a 1-0 win in a battle for second place in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.
Three days later, Boyceville was in Mondovi to face the defending conference champion Buffaloes. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs’ offensive struggles continued and resulted in a 9-2 loss.
With the split, Boyceville headed into the final days of the regular season with an 8-3 conference record. Overall, the Bulldogs are 11-3 on the season.
Boyceville played Durand-Arkansaw at home Monday. The Bulldogs travel to rival Glenwood City Thursday and will head to Shell Lake this Saturday for a tournament. Next Monday, May 13, the Bulldogs wrap up conference action with a home game against Elmwood-Plum City and then host Augusta in a non-conference game the following day.
Elk Mound
A single run in the top of the fourth inning was all Boyceville could muster when it visited Elk Mound April 30.
With two outs in the top fourth, the Bulldogs’ Zoey Hellendrung reached on a single. The very next batter, Jadynn Traxler, laced a double to deep left center field that brought Hellendrung all the way to home plate for the 1-0 Boyceville lead.
Elk Mound looked to knot the score in the bottom of the fifth when Jaidynn Sarauer reached on a Boyceville fielding error, stole second and reached third on a fielder’s choice. But, Sarauer was stranded when Malean struck out Alexandra Solberg to end the Mounder threat.
Elk Mound also had opportunities to score in the sixth and seventh innings but came away empty. Hailey Meyer picked up a two-out single and Elisabeth Beskow walked to put runners on first and second. Autumn Moquin, however, grounded out in the next at bat to end the frame.
In the seventh, Sarauer doubled to deep center with one out but was left there when Malean struck out two consecutive Elk Mound batters to end the game.
That lone score proved to be the game winner as the Bulldogs’ freshman hurler, Aubrey Malean, tossed a 3-hit shutout against the Mounders. She finished with seven Ks and walked a pair to earn the victory.
Senior Sarah Stoveren picked up two of the Bulldogs’ five hits in the 1-0 victory. Jadynn Traxler finished with that RBI double while Zoey Hellendrung singled and scored the game’s lone run. A single by Hannah Dunn accounted for Boyceville’s other hit.
Both teams finished with a pair of errors.
Mondovi
When Boyceville played in Mondovi last Friday, it looked to be another low scoring game.
The two combatants found themselves in a scoreless deadlock through the first three innings of play. But, that changed in the bottom of the fourth inning when the host Buffaloes broke through for three runs.
Mondovi followed with a half dozen more runs in the fifth to take a commanding 9-0 advantage.
Down to their final at bat in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs finally found home plate when they scored a pair of runs, but the Buffaloes eventually retired the side to end the game for the 9-2 win.
Delaney Olson and Hannah Dunn each had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs. Aubrey Malean and Sarah Stoveren each picked up a hit for Boyceville’s other two hits.
Malean went the distance in the pitching circle for the Bulldogs and took the loss. The freshman allowed all nine Mondovi scores on five hits. In the six innings she threw, Malean struck out five but walked seven.