The Bucs played a nail-biter against St. James Thursday night.

The Blue Earth Area softball team traveled to face the St. James Saints and ended up losing by one point.

The teams were neck in neck throughout the game and the Bucs tied it up with a run in the top of the fifth inning.

However, the Saints brought a runner across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 10-9 win.

“Tonight was definitely a nail-biter,”?the Bucs head coach Abby Bloomquist says. “We played seven very strong innings and played both sides of the game.”?

Audrey McDonald was 5 for 5 hitting. She accounted for three of the nine BEA?runs and had one RBI.

Janessa Jahnke was 4 for 4 hitting. She hit two doubles and had RBIs.

Caitlyn Holm was 2 for 4 hitting. She scored two runs and had two RBIs.

Monica Krieger was 2 for 4 hitting and she had one run and one RBI.

Bethany Olson was 2 for 5 hitting, had one run and one RBI. Whitney Pirsig was 3 for 4 hitting and scored one run.

Ashton Hendricksen was 2 for 5 with one RBI and Chelsea Owen was 2 for 5 with one RBI.

“In my two years with these girls, I’ve never seen them hit so well as a team.”?the coach says.

According to Bloomquist the Bucs were 22-38 hitting as a team in Thursday night’s game.

Abby Nimz was the ace on the mound for the Bucs, throwing all seven innings. She faced 35 batters allowing 16 hits, four walks and had 4 strikeouts.

“I saw many promising things tonight and am so excited to see how things pan out as we enter into sections next week,”?Bloomquist says.

The No. 7-seeded Bucs are set to face the No. 2-seeded Waseca Bluejays on May 21. The game will begin at 5 p.m. in Waseca.

“If we can maintain the level of play we had Thursday night, we’ll be a tough match for Waseca,”?the coach adds.

Waseca 12, BEA 5

The Blue Earth Area softball team traveled to Waseca last Tuesday.

Both teams had problems getting their runners across the plate in the first couple of innings. However, it was in the last two innings when Waseca secured the win with a score of 12-5.

“It is evident that we ran into some trouble in the fifth and sixth innings,”?Buc coach Abby Bloomquist says. “Waseca scored 10 of their 12 runs within those two innings alone.”

However, BEA didn’t give up and brought in their five runs in the last two innings as well.

Megan Wirtjes pitched all seven innings. She faced 34 batters, allowed 15 hits and two walks and had six strikeouts.

Wirtjes also was 1 for 3 batting and scored one run.

Janessa Jahnke took on the role of catcher for the Bucs.

“Wirtjes and Jahnke adjusted well to hitters and together they threw a very consistent, smart game,”?Bloomquist adds.

Jahnke also had a hot bat for the Bucs. She was 2 for 3 and had one double and two RBIs.

Bethany Olson was 2 for 4 hitting. She had one run, hit one double and had one RBI.

Ashton?Hendricksen was 1 for 4 at bat. She had one RBI and crossed the plate for one run.

Whitney Pirsig was 1 for 3 and had one run.

Monica Krieger was 0 for 2 hitting, but took a base on balls and got a run.

“On offense we can’t afford to leave runners stranded,” the BEA?coach adds. “We have to be aggressive in the box and on the base paths.”