CLERMONT, Fla. – The No. 15 Winona State softball team improved to 10-1 on the season with a pair of victories over Ohio Dominican and Bloomsburg Sunday in the first pair of 10 games in six days on its Florida swing.
The Warriors pounded out 19 hits and scored 17 runs to beat ODU 7-2 before topping Bloomsburg 10-1 in five innings.
Ashley Walker improved to 4-0 on the season with a complete game win in the opener, scattering five hits while giving up two earned runs and striking out three.
WSU spotted the Panthers a pair of early runs to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Warriors answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on a Natalie Kalmes home run to left field to plate Allyson O'Herron. Tayler Oberman later singled in the inning before Reed Karsten produced an RBI triple to move ahead 3-2.
The 3-2 score remained until the bottom of the fifth when Kalmes came around to score on a fielding error to make it 4-2. The Warriors then added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, as a leadoff double by Karsten led to an RBI single for Walker – who eventually scored on a throwing error. Shannon Nelson provided the final RBI of the game, plating Jessica Kullmann with a single through the left side for the 7-2 score.
Hanna Lythberg picked up where Walker left off in game two against Bloomsburg, tossing five innings while striking out three, giving up four hits and allowing no earned runs to improve to 5-1 on the year.
Morgan Lintz opened the scoring with an RBI in the top of the first on a fielder's choice that scored Karsten for a 1-0 lead. Paige Keegan then walked to score Walker before Lintz scored on a fielding error to put WSU up 3-0 after one inning.
WSU scored three more in the top of the second, as Walker smashed an RBI triple to score Lexi Perez before Kullmann and O'Herron produced RBI singles of their own to help WSU storm out to a quick 6-0 lead.
Walker was back at it in the third, hitting her second RBI triple in as many innings to score Karsten and move ahead 7-0. WSU made it 8-0 in the top of the fourth when O'Herron scored on a fielding error.
Bloomsburg got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to score an unearned run, but WSU added another pair of runs in the top of the fifth when Keegan walked with the bases loaded and O'Herron reached on a fielder's choice to provide the final RBI as Lythberg shut the door in the bottom of the inning to claim the victory.
Winona State (10-1) plays a pair of games Monday, battling Northwood (Mich.) at noon (CDT) before squaring off against Ferris State at 2 p.m. in Clermont, Fla.
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