Royals Fall in Glendive

The Royals hit the road again, traveling to Glendive, Montana to face the Dawson Community College Buccaneers in a four-game series split across Sunday and Monday.

In game one on Sunday, the Royals showed early promise. Alexa Ferguson singled and advanced to third after two sacrifices, but the Royals couldn't bring her home. The Buccaneers capitalized in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run to take an early 2-0 lead. They added runs in the second and fourth innings to go up 4-0.

The Royals broke through in the fifth when Sadie Vipond singled, Ferguson drew a walk, and a pair of sacrifices brought in a run to cut the deficit to 4-1. However, the Buccaneers responded with a big inning, tallying five runs on multiple hits to secure a 9-1 victory.

In the second game on Sunday, the Royals' offense struggled to get going. The Buccaneers' pitcher threw five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit—a single by Ella Harkness. Dawson scored consistently, putting up runs in each of the first four innings to take a 10-0 win.

Monday's first game (game three of the series) saw Dawson jump out quickly, building a 6-0 lead in the first two innings and extending it to 7-0 in the third. The Royals responded in the bottom half of the inning with three consecutive doubles from Harkness, Ireland Schmidt, and Kaell Klisowsky to score three runs.

After a scoreless fourth, Dawson added three more runs in the fifth. Klisowsky answered with a two-run home run following a Payton Durand double, making it 10-5. The Buccaneers then broke the game open in the sixth with seven runs. The Royals showed some fight late, drawing three straight walks and adding RBI hits from Harkness and Leta Schultz, but ultimately fell 17-7.

In the final game of the series, the Royals struck first. Ferguson reached on an error and later scored on a Durand single to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. The Buccaneers quickly answered, scoring two runs in the second and adding to their lead with strong offensive innings.

The Royals plated runs in the third and fourth innings, highlighted by another Durand RBI single and a home run from Katie Allmaras, cutting the deficit to 8-3. However, Dawson pulled away in the sixth with five more runs. The Royals managed one final run, but fell 13-4.

The Royals will look to bounce back in their spring home opener on Wednesday when they host the #1-ranked North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats.