SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 13 Winona State softball team mounted a seventh-inning rally to force extra innings, but a three-run home run in the eighth inning ended the Warriors' season with a 5-2 loss to East Central Saturday afternoon at Bowden Field in Sioux Falls.
Down 2-1 – the game's score since the second inning – with one final chance to produce a comeback and extend their season, the Warriors got a leadoff single in the seventh inning from Reed Karsten. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, senior Morgan Lintz came up with a clutch double to right center field to plate Karsten and give the Warriors renewed life.
The Warriors had a prime opportunity to complete the comeback with the winning run on third base with two outs, but Jessica Kullmann flied out to end the threat.
The tie would not last long, as the Tigers' leadoff batter walked on five pitches. ECU then singled to put two runners on base. After a fielder's choice, Samantha McGraw would provide the heroics for East Central, hitting a towering three-run home run off Hanna Lythberg to bring an eventual end to the Warriors' season.
Until the eighth-inning homer, Lythberg had not allowed a baserunner since the third inning and hadn't allowed a run since one run scored in each of the first two innings.
The Warriors scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the second when junior Natalie Kalmes blasted a home run – her 12th of the season – to left field to cut the Tiger lead in half at 2-1.
Lythberg – who was tagged for a season-high tying five earned runs, finished her impressive junior season with a 23-8 record and a 1.46 ERA.
WSU produced 12 hits in the game to East Central's eight. In the two NCAA Tournament games, the Warriors managed 19 hits to their opponents' 12, but scored just three runs total.
Winona State finishes its 2015 campaign with a 46-14 record.
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