Beavers fall in first conference tourney game

The BVU softball team is making its fifth appearance in the IIAC Tournament, and first since 2006. In game one yesterday (Thursday), the Beavers fell to Coe 9-0. The Beavers bats were silent in the contest with sophomore Aphton Roberts, getting the only hit for BVU compared to 11 for the Kohawks. Sophomore Chancey Wilcke took the loss on the mound, going 1.2 innings and giving up four runs on six hits with two of them earned. Sophomore Jami Webster pitched in relief. The Beavers feel their improvement this year has earned them their spot in the tournament.

"I feel overall we did a great job as a team," senior Amy Hasbrouck said. "This was a great way to finish my college career and I owe it all to the team and the coaches. We all work so hard, and we deserve to go to the conference tournament and that shows."

The Beavers finished up their regular season with games against #12 Central. The women were unable to clench the games over Central with the opening game score 12-4 (five innings) and the second game also going only five innings with a score of 12-2. Offensively, Roberts contributed with a double and had some RBI’s along with Wilcke, who had three hits and one RBI. BVU currently sits at 15-18 on the year. This year is the first year since 2002 that they have been this high in their standings. They will play today at 2 p.m. Assistant Coach Katie Onken feels the team will step up to the challenge of the tournament.

"We know we are going into the tournament this weekend as underdogs," Onken said. "It is a great spot to be. Our team will play hard with nothing to lose and do our best to pull off a few upsets along the way."