WINONA, Minn. – The No. 19 Winona State softball team clicked on offense Thursday, scoring 21 runs and 28 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Upper Iowa at a beautiful afternoon at Alumni Field.

With temperatures into the 70s – as warm as it's been all home season for the Warriors – the WSU bats were hot, as Winona State launched four home runs – three in game two – while rolling to 8-2 and 13-5 victories.

WSU wasted little time putting up runs. The Warriors strung together three straight doubles from Ashley Walker, Morgan Lintz and McKenna Larsen – all with two outs – put the Warriors up 2-0 after an inning.

Upper Iowa cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth with a home run by Erica Kirgan, but RBI singles from Allyson O'Herron and Reed Karsten in the bottom of the inning gave the Warriors some breathing room with a 4-1 lead.

Jessica Kullmann added to the lead in the fifth inning with an RBI single up the middle to plate Larsen and Natalie Kalmes in the very next at-bat smashed a two-run home run – the first of two on the day – to make it a 7-1 Warrior lead.

The Peacocks hit their second home run of the game – this time off the bat of Katie Sammons – to make it 7-2 in the sixth, but Larsen recorded her second RBI of the game with a double in the bottom of the frame to put up the 8-2 final score.

Walker improved to 16-3 in the circle for the Warriors, tossing a shutout while scattering five hits and two earned runs while walking a pair and striking out three Peacocks.

The Warriors scored in every inning but the first in game two to cruise to a six-inning victory. The first inning wasn't without WSU highlights, however, as starter Hanna Lythberg struck out the side and eventually fanned the first five batters of the game en route to a 10 strikeout outing – second only to an 11 strikeout day against Wisconsin-Parkside in the season opener for most in her WSU career.

Kalmes hit her second home run of the day in the second inning for her team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season to stake the Warriors to another 2-0 lead.

After the Peacocks again cut the lead in half in the third inning, Walker singled down the line in left field to score Lexi Perez in the third inning to make it a 3-1 game. Upper Iowa pulled even with the Warriors in the fourth when Jacqueline Flood produced a 2 RBI single through the left side to knot the score at 3-3.

The tie wouldn't hold up for long, as the bottom of the inning saw back-to-back solo jacks from Larsen and Kullmann to get WSU back out front by a 5-3 score. WSU would pour it on from there, adding another run in the fourth on a Perez single, followed by two in the fifth and a five-run sixth capped off by a two-run Kullmann double to end it via the eight-run rule.

Larsen and Kullmann each added three RBI in the game two win, while five Warriors recorded multiple hits.

Despite striking out 10 Peacocks, Lythberg scattered 12 hits in her complete game victory along with five earned runs, but the Warriors dealt the junior more than enough run support. Lythberg improves her record in the circle to 18-5 on the season with an NSIC-lowest 1.69 ERA.

Winona State (36-9, 18-2 NSIC) gets little time to rest, as it heads out on the road for a pair of weekend doubleheaders against Northern State and MSU Moorhead on Saturday and Sunday.