Bison Edge East Carolina 9-8 in Eight Innings at Easton Bama Bash

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.--Amanda Grable's two-out RBI single in the eighth inning lifted North Dakota State University to a 9-8 victory over East Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 26, in the Easton Bama Bash at Rhoads Stadium. The Bison finished 3-2 at the tournament.

North Dakota State (9-6) is scheduled to play Wichita State at 4 p.m. Friday, March 2, in the opening game of the Arizona State Wilson/DeMarini Invitational in Tempe.

East Carolina (7-6) had taken an 8-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning. The Pirates took advantage of two NDSU errors, a pair of illegal pitches and RBI singles from Jasmine Robbins and Jill Jelnick. Jelnick finished 4-for-4 and two RBI.

Jamie Gay started things for North Dakota State with a run-scoring single. Brandi Enriquez followed with a base hit and Gay scored on two-base ECU throwing error on Alex Sobrero's bunt. Enriquez scored on Katie Tamayo's sacrifice fly to set up Grable's game-winning single.

Freshman Krista Menke (3-3) recorded the win in relief of starter Whitney Johnson. Menke allowed four hits, struck out one and issued no walks.

The Bison, who also rallied from a 4-1 deficit early in the game, needed a season-high 13 hits to outdistance East Carolina and overcome five errors. All eight runs allowed by NDSU were unearned.

For the second time in three games, outfielder Taylor Mortensen led off the game with a home run. Mortensen, who added a double, two RBI and a run scored, topped a group of five Bison players with two hits. Enriquez, Gay, Grable and Tamayo.

Brea Konz hit her first home run of the season in the sixth inning to help knot things up 5-all.

Courtney Smith and Sarah Christian (5-3) pitched for East Carolina with Christian picking up the loss. The pair combined to allow four earned runs, walk three and strike out three.

Mortensen and Johnson were named the Easton Bama Bash all-tournament team. Mortensen hit .375 (6-16) with five RBI, a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Johnson compiled a 2-1 record with a 1.57 earned run average. She struck out 26 and walked 12 in 22.1 innings pitched.