Umpires called a ‘run-ahead’ rule to end the Honeybee’s home game series versus the Madison Night Mares Thursday night.

In NCAA D1 softball, the home-plate umpire may declare what is called the run-ahead rule, sometimes colloquially known as a ‘mercy rule’ if one team is ahead of another by at least eight runs by the end of the fifth inning. The umpires chose to make that call in the Honeybee’s 0-12 loss Thursday night against the Night Mares.

The first inning of the game gave the impression that Thursday night’s win would be given to the better defensive team. Minot’s Ashleigh Heiderscheit started on the mound Thursday night, allowing just one hit and one error. The Honeybees appeared to have a solid defense for the game with the likes of Carly Cummings robbing Madison’s Emma Kavanagh of a home run, grabbing the ball just before it blew past the centerfield fence.

The bottom of the first saw the Honeybees with just a single run hit by Cummings. Cummings was able to steal second before two back to back strikeouts ended the game early.

Trouble for the Honeybees started in the second inning. Madison’s first batter of the inning was walked with the next two hitting singles to load the bases. Madison’s fourth batter was then also walked to put the first run on the board. A double play during the next at bat took pressure off of Heiderscheit, and a put out ended the inning before Madison’s lead could grow.

The Honeybees went three up and three down in the bottom of the second in fourteen pitches, ending with a caught foul ball hit by Heiderscheit herself.

Ella Stephenson widened the gap between the Honeybees and the Night Mares during the top of the third, hitting her third home run this week at Corbett Field. A walk on bases loaded gave Madison their second run of the inning, and an error at home by catcher Olivia Lenzen gave them their third. The Night Mares’ pitcher once again saw just three batters in the bottom of the third, making the score 0-4 for Madison at the end of the inning.

The top of the fourth was a long half for the Honeybees. A double into left field by Madison’s Emma Kavanagh earned their first run of the inning. Stephenson then hit her fourth home run of the series over the centerfield fence, scoring two more runs for the Night Mares. Cienna Clemens came in to replace Heiderscheit on the mound. Tayler Baker hit a single into left field to bring home another two runs for Madison. Another single and an error at home allowed three additional runs before the end of the half. The Night Mares had earned an additional eight runs in the top of the fourth alone, bringing the score to 0-12.

The Honeybees had the next inning and a half to cut the gap in the score down to make it past the fifth inning. The Honeybees were not able to score in the bottom of the fourth off of their two hits. They were able to keep the Night Mares from scoring again in the top of the fifth, but went three up and three down again in the bottom of the fifth. At that point the umpires elected to call the run-ahead rule and end the game early.

The Honeybees were swept by the Night Mares during their at-home series this week, losing all three games. The Honeybees will spend the next week on the road taking on the La Crosse Steam. The Honeybees will return home to COrbett Field Saturday, July 5 in their series against the Mankato Habaneros.