Winter Haven, FL -- Sunday, the North Central University (NCU) softball team played its final spring break games in Florida with a pair of contests against the University of Mount Union (MU) Raiders and the Westminster College (WC) Titans. Today, the Rams had a tough task at hand as Mount Union and Westminster were both 2024 NCAA Tournament competitors last season. NCU battled, losing 17-2 to the Raiders and 8-0 to the Titans to wrap up their 2025 spring break trip.
Game 1: NCU 2, MU 17
The Rams faced a tough Mount Union squad in the opening game of the day. The opposition jumped out early, plating 7 runs in the first inning and continuing their offensive pressure throughout the game. North Central's defense struggled to contain the attack, allowing 15 hits while committing 3 errors. NCU's offense found some momentum in the fifth inning when sophomore
Karmen Dotson led off with a double down the left-field line. Freshman
Gabbie Ruzek worked a walk to give the Rams runners in scoring position. Senior
Isabela Gallardo was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and freshman
Addison Schroer followed with an RBI walk to push the first North Central run across. Senior
Aurora Prettyman then drew another bases-loaded walk, plating Ruzek for the Rams' second run of the game. Defensively, the Rams saw solid play from Gallardo at shortstop, who reached base twice with a hit and a walk while also stealing a base. Dotson's double marked the only extra-base hit for NCU in the contest. Schroer took the loss in the circle, pitching four innings while facing a relentless lineup. North Central fell 17-2 in 5 innings.
Game 2: NCU 0, WC 8
In the second game, NCU aimed to rebound but was met with dominant pitching from Westminster. The Rams struggled to generate offensive momentum, managing just one hit in the contest, a single from sophomore
Erica Gilles in the second inning. The game remained close early, with Westminster scoring a single run in the second and third innings before breaking it open with a four-run fourth inning. The Rams' best scoring opportunity came in the second when Prettyman reached base on a walk and advanced to third after Gilles' single and a sacrifice bunt by senior
Maggie Kohl, but NCU was unable to capitalize. Schroer once again handled pitching duties, battling through four and two-thirds innings while facing a Westminster lineup that tallied 13 hits. Defensively, the Rams showed resilience, turning a couple of well-executed plays in the infield, but Westminster's consistent hitting and speed on the basepaths proved to be too much in the 8-0 loss.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Softball returns to Minneapolis for a non-conference doubleheader against Augsburg University on Tuesday, March 11th at 4:00 PM hosted at Edor Nelson Field.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on softball and all things NCU Athletics.
