KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Bemidji State University softball team opened play in Kissimmee, Fla., Sunday night by defeating Jefferson University, 10-1 but fell to Lewis University, 11-6. The Beavers (6-4) were led by senior Makayla Pagel and junior Olivia Tucker who each totaled four hits on the day and batted .571.

Bemidji State 10, Jefferson 1 (F/6)
The Beavers totaled 12 hits in six innings en route to a 10-1 victory over the Rams in the first game of the week. Senior Brooke Phillips started the scoring in the first inning with a RBI double while the Beavers followed with five runs in the third led by a two-run home run by Pagel.

BSU added four runs in the top of the six off of RBI’s from Samantha Edlund, Tucker and Rochelle Koshalek (2) while the Rams scored in the bottom half of the inning to deny the shutout.

Sophomore Stephi Dullum pitched all six innings for the Beavers and allowed just one run off of five hits and earned three strikeouts to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Lewis 11, Bemidji State 6
Bemidji State started strong in the game and held a 4-2 lead over the Flyers after the first inning but Lewis responded with a five-run, second inning to power its way to an 11-6 victory over the Beavers.

Lewis began the game by scoring two runs in the first but BSU responded with four runs off of RBI’s from Tucker, Lexi Derrick, Sami Trana and Megan Castor to take the 4-2 lead. However, the Flyers fired off for five runs in the second inning to retake the lead at 7-4.

Bemidji State added a run in the fourth with an RBI single from Pagel to make it 7-5 but a run in the sixth and three runs in the seventh for the Flyers sealed the victory.

Junior Megan Pehrson earned the loss for the Beavers after pitching 1.2 innings and allowed seven runs off of five hits to fall to 1-1. Senior Rochelle Koshalek came in to pitch 5.1 innings in relief and allowed four runs off of eight hits.

The Beavers continue play in Florida and will face Quincy University and Southern Connecticut State Monday afternoon.

For more information on the Bemidji State softball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeaversSB), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Multimedia" 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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