KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Dickinson State extended its season Monday with a five-run seventh inning, rallying past Arizona Christian 8-4 in the opening game of the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round at Stilwell Stadium.
The fifth-seeded Blue Hawks improved to 41-12 and advanced to face top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Oregon Tech later Monday in the Klamath Falls Bracket. Arizona Christian, the No. 4 seed, fell to 36-14. Oregon Tech is the host and top seed in the bracket, with the winner of Game 1 scheduled to face the Owls in Monday's third game.
Dickinson State trailed 4-3 entering the seventh before putting together its best inning of the game. Viennah Meyer opened the inning with a single to right field, and Allyson Farrington followed with a bunt single. Izzy Kelly was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Stocktyn Stevenson drew a bases-loaded walk to score Meyer and tie the game at 4. Celina Wilharm followed with the key swing, sending a single up the middle that scored Kelly and Farrington. Stevenson also scored on a throwing error on the play, giving the Blue Hawks a 7-4 lead. Brooke Lijewski added a bunt single that brought in Wilharm for the final run.
Reagan King closed the game in the seventh. After retiring the first two batters, King issued a walk and allowed a single, but she got a fielder's choice grounder to third to end the game. King earned the win, improving to 12-4 after throwing two scoreless innings in relief. She allowed one hit and one walk.
Arizona Christian scored three runs in the first inning, taking advantage of two hits and one Dickinson State error. Elena Garcia and Dayna Herrera scored on Christina Grubb's single and the ensuing play, and Avery Slater added an RBI single to give the Firestorm a 3-0 lead.
The Blue Hawks got on the board in the third. Farrington walked, moved to second on Kelly's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on Jessa Duggan's groundout. Stevenson followed with an RBI single to shortstop to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Dickinson State tied the game in the fourth. Lijewski singled to right center, and Octavia Meyer doubled to left center to bring her in. Farrington later singled through the left side to score Meyer and make it 3-3.
Arizona Christian regained the lead in the fifth when Raelynn Villanueva singled and scored on Garcia's RBI triple to right center. Hope Fath avoided further damage by getting a lineout to right with two runners on base.
Fath started for Dickinson State and worked five innings. She allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits with three walks and one strikeout. The Blue Hawks' defense turned a double play on a spectacular diving play by Wilharm in the fourth to keep the game tied at the time.
Dickinson State finished with eight runs on eight hits. Lijewski went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Farrington went 2-for-2 with two runs, an RBI and a walk, and Stevenson drove in two runs. Wilharm also had two RBIs, while Octavia Meyer doubled and drove in one.
Arizona Christian had six hits. Garcia went 3-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and a walk. Grubb and Slater each drove in one run.
Alyssa Grinstead took the loss for Arizona Christian, allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits in one inning. Dayna Herrera started and allowed four runs on five hits over six innings.
The win sends Dickinson State into the winner's bracket against Oregon Tech, which entered the Opening Round as the No. 1 seed in the Klamath Falls Bracket and the No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA.
