MINOT, N.D. - The Carroll College Softball team opened their 2023 campaign with a win, followed by an extra innings loss at the Bubble Invite in Minot N.D. 

Head Coach Shawna Juarez picked up her first win at the helm of the Fighting Saints, and Carroll (1-0) started their season off on the right foot, gutting out a 7-6 win over Valley City State (1-1) on Saturday.

After a clean top of the inning, Kenna Thomas (Belgrade, Mont. / SO) drove in the first run of the season on a single to center field in the bottom of the first for the Saints. Alyssa Lybbert (Las Vegas, Nev. / SO) would drive in another run later that inning to give the Saints a 2-0 lead after one.

Valley City State was able to get a run back in the top of the second to bring the score to 2-1, but the Saints responded with a big inning of their own. Carroll scored four runs in the bottom of the second, taking a commanding 6-2 lead.

Back-to-back two run innings for Valley City in the third and fourth cut the Carroll lead to just one run, but Amber Brewer (Peoria, Ariz. / SR) knocked in a run in the fifth inning to give Carroll a 7-5 lead.

 Valley City would score on a throwing error in the sixth, but could not complete the comeback and Carroll would win 7-6.

Abbie Amend (Spokane, Wash. / FR) earned the win after four innings of relief work, picking up six strikeouts on the way.

Both Kenna Thomas and Amber Brewer finished 2-3 with 2 RBI's for the Saints.

In the second game of the afternoon, the Saints squared off with tournament host, Minot State, in an offensive slugfest. Action was aplenty in the afternoon tilt, with at least one run being scored in every inning.

Carroll struck first, with Lybbert driving in brewer in the top of the first, but the Beavers would respond and take a 2-1 lead after one. Kaitlynn Ayers (Twin Falls, Idaho / JR) scored on a sacrifice bunt in the second inning to tie things back up for the Saints.

Minot State would go on to score five runs over the next four innings, but the new-look Saints refused to surrender. Annie Davidson (Boise, Idaho / SR), Ellie Koerber (Billings, Mont. / SO) and Jessica Nimmo (Las Vegas, Nev. / SR) all picked up RBI's over the same time span, setting up Haley Kampa (Stevensville, Mont. / SR) to drive in two runs in the seventh to tie things up once again. 

The game would go into extra innings, and Minot Sate would score in the bottom of the eighth inning to steal a comeback from the Saints.

Kaitlynn Ayers finished 3-4 with three runs scored in the afternoon game, and Annie Davidson went 3-3 with one run scored.

Freshman Abbie Amend went another four innings in the second game, adding four more strikeouts to her tally.

Carroll will turn around and play two more games in the morning against the University of Mary and Dakota Wesleyan to wrap up play for the weekend.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a recap of those games and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.