WINONA, Minn. – The No. 17 Winona State softball team used a big inning in each game of Saturday's doubleheader to post a sweep of Southwest Minnesota State at Alumni Field.
The Warriors scored six runs in the second inning of the opener to cruise to an 8-0 six-inning victory before recording a seven-run third inning in a 7-2 game two win.
After going down in order in the first inning, WSU's offense came to life in the second. Morgan Lintz coxed a leadoff walk and McKenna Larsen followed up with a single to left field. With runners at the corners and one out, Natalie Kalmes produced the game's first run with an infield single to score Lintz. Jamee Schleis later made it 2-0 with a bases loaded sacrifice fly to score Larsen. Lexi Perez in the next at-bat came up with a single that plated Allyson O'Herron and Kalmes to make it 4-0 and create an early exit for SMSU starter Erin McDurmont.
The Warriors weren't done in the inning, as Reed Karsten added a patented double to left center that scored Perez, and Walker shot a single up the middle to plate Karsten and put the Warriors up 6-0.
That would prove to be more than enough offense for the Warriors, but WSU added an unearned run in the fourth after a throwing error allowed Perez to reach base and extend the inning, which allowed Karsten to produce an RBI single for a 7-0 lead. Karsten was at it again in the bottom of the sixth, with another RBI – her third of the game – to score Cydnei Gunderson and end the game via the eight-run rule.
Walker (19-4) was fantastic in the circle, tossing a complete game shutout while scattering seven hits, striking out five and walking just one. The senior coaxed 12 groundouts while just one out was the result of a pop up.
The story in game two was not unlike the first, as another big inning staked starter Hanna Lythberg to another comfortable lead.
After a pair of scoreless innings, SMSU brought home an unearned run to put the first run of the game on the board, but WSU broke through in the bottom of the frame. O'Herron led off the inning with a single down right field line and advanced to scoring position thanks to a fielding error. With runners at the corners, Karsten came through once again with a double to center field that scored O'Herron and score WSU's first run. Walker followed suit with a 2 RBI double down the left field line that just barely missed going over the fence and going foul, but resulted in a pair of runs.
Again with runners at the corners and after another early exit for a Mustang pitcher, Larsen doubled to plate Lintz and Walker to make it 5-1. Natalie Kalmes then brought Larsen home with a two-run home run – her team-leading 10th home run of the season – to give WSU the lopsided 7-1 advantage.
SMSU managed another run – Lythberg's only earned run allowed in the game – but WSU would roll to the 7-2 win and the sweep.
Lythberg (19-7) allowed 10 hits on the game but few did any damage, giving up just the one earned run while striking out a trio of Mustangs to earn the win.
With the win, Winona State (40-12) has reached the 40-win plateau for the third time in four seasons. The Warriors will wrap up their regular season with a Sunday doubleheader against Sioux Falls at 1 p.m. on senior day at Alumni Field.
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