Brusly heading to quarterfinals with 10-0 win over Minden

A seven-run third inning, coupled with a one-hit performance in the circle from Amelia Bouvier, propelled Brusly to a 10-0 win over Minden in five innings in the second round of Division II non-select softball playoffs Wednesday night.

No. 5 Brusly (28-6) advances to play No. 4 Iowa on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Iowa defeated No. 13 Iota 5-3 Tuesday.

"We had some nerves," said Brusly coach Beau Bouvier. "We had a bye in the first round. We didn't like the bye. We didn't like having off a week. We watched them (Minden) on film. Once we settled down in that third inning, we kind of broke it open."

It didn't take long for Brusly to get on the board. Leadoff hitter Laila Clark hit a solo home run to left field to put the Lady Panthers ahead 1-0.

RBI singles from Emma Fabre and Emma Grace Daigle in the third extended the Brusly lead to 3-0 before Bouvier's sac fly gave the home team a 4-0 cushion.

Cale Alexander broke the game open when she sent an 0-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a three-run home run that put Brusly ahead 7-0. Fabre drove in another run later in the inning with another single.

Fabre led the team with three hits in three at-bats. Bouvier tossed five complete innings with eight strikeouts.

Brusly and Iowa matched up on March 18 and Iowa came away with a 9-8 victory. It was the last time Brusly lost a game. Since then, the Lady Panthers have won 12 in a row.

"They (Iowa) can hit," coach Bouvier said. "We lost to them 9-8. It's going to be a battle. Two good teams. They've lost in the state finals the last two years, so they know what it takes to get there and we gotta go to their place and take our chances."