ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Bemidji State University softball team dropped the final three games of the Kelly Laas Invite in St. Cloud Saturday. The Beavers started out with an 11-2 loss to Dickinson State University before falling 14-0 to host school St. Cloud State University and 8-0 to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) newcomer Minot State University.

The Beavers dropped to 2-6 in the weekend after their second-consecutive 1-3 week.

Brittany Lenander (Jr., IF, Lino Lakes, Minn.) got BSU on the board first in against DSU, doubling home Lyndsey Peterson (Fr., IF/P, Cottonwood, Minn.) to make it 1-0 in the second inning, but Dickinson State went on to score three runs in the third and four in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Lenander capped the scoring with another RBI double in the sixth, sending freshman Mikayla Osterman (C, Sierra Vista, Ariz.) home from third, but the Beavers could not muster anymore offense and failed to extend the game to a seventh inning. 

St. Cloud State got off to a quicker start and never looked back in the Beavers’ second game of the day, posting five runs in the first inning.

Husky pitcher Kelly Franks stifled the Bemidji State offense throughout the five-inning game, striking out eight hitters without allowing a hit in four innings of work to earn the win. SCUS’s biggest inning came in the fourth, when it pushed eight runs across.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, the bats never got going in the team’s third game of the day, resulting in an 8-0 loss to Beaver counterpart Minot State. MSU scored once in the first and pulled away with six more runs in the second en route to an 8-0 victory. NSIC Pitcher of the Week  Mandy Greenberg was solid in the circle, striking out 10 in five innings, allowing just a walk and three BSU hits.

BSU will play 13 games in a six-day span over spring break in Titusville and Clermont, Fla. for spring training before opening conference play with a doubleheader at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. The Beavers open at home with a pair of games against Wayne State College April 6. 

For more information on the Bemidji State University softball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@Beaver_Softball or @BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers), or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Mulitmedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooded region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

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