FAYETTE, Iowa – The Bemidji State University softball team fell in both games of its doubleheader against Upper Iowa University Sunday afternoon in Fayette, Iowa. The Beavers (22-18, 5-11 NSIC) fell to the Peacocks (18-13, 10-6 NSIC) by scores of 7-1 and 1-0 in eight innings.

Upper Iowa 7, Bemidji State 1
The Beavers totaled just six hits and one run in the first game of the day and fell to the Peacocks 7-1. Upper Iowa started the scoring with two runs in the third and followed with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to go up 7-0 before junior Lexi Derrick hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh for the Beavers’ lone run.

Senior Jessica Burlingame led the Beavers by going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double while Derrick followed by going 1-for-1 with a home run and two walks. Sophomore Stephi Dullum pitched six innings and allowed four runs, two earned off of 10 hits while earning three strikeouts while senior Rochelle Koshalek came in to pitch one inning and allowed three runs, one earned, off of just one hit.

Upper Iowa 1, Bemidji State 0 (F/8)
Game two was a pitcher’s duel between Rochelle Koshalek and Upper Iowa’s pitching staff as neither team was able to score a run after the first seven innings and needed an extra inning to decide the winner. Upper Iowa eventually scored the game’s lone run in the top of the eighth off of an RBI single.

Koshalek pitched a gem in the circle and allowed just six hits in 7.1 innings and the one run while freshman Kaidron McClafferty came in to pitch 0.2 innings in the eighth.

Freshman Elaina Christiansen led the Beavers by going 2-for-4 at the plate while Koshalek helped her cause at the plage by batting 1-for-3 with a double.

The Beavers continue play in Iowa tomorrow afternoon when they travel to the campus of Waldorf University to host No. 17 Winona State University for a doubleheader at Noon and 2 p.m.

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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