WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State softball team closed out its home slate with a pair of impressive victories over the rival Augustana Vikings Thursday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Warriors ran away with an 11-1 five-inning victory in game one before posting a 3-0 shutout in game two.
GAME ONE: WSU 11, Augustana 1 (5 inn.)
A grand slam from sophomore Jamee Schleis highlighted and capped off a 10-run third inning assembled by the Warriors to cruise to a five-inning victory in the opener.
The Warriors took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after freshman Lani Van Zyl coaxed a bases loaded walk to score Reed Karsten, who led off the inning with a single through the left side.
Augustana briefly tied the game at one run apiece in the top of the third on an RBI single by Maggie Kadrlik, but the lead wouldn't last long as the Vikings would suffer from a disastrous bottom of the frame.
The Warriors opened the inning with three straight singles from Schleis, Paige Keegan and Natalie Kalmes to load the bases with nobody out. That set up McKenna Larsen for the would-be game winning hit, a two-run single up the middle to score Keegan and Schleis. But the inning was just getting started, as a fielding error allowed Van Zyl to reach base. That set up three straight walks – the final two with the bases loaded to up the WSU lead to 6-1. Karsten then reached base on the second error of the inning by the Viking infielders to allow Mariah Schultz to score.
Still with no outs in the inning, the Warriors put the game away in Schleis' second at bat of the inning, blasting a grand slam to center field to make it an 11-1 game and dismissing Augie's Carley Pickett from the game. The Warriors would fly out to left field in three straight at bats to end the inning but the damage was done.
Hanna Lythberg (16-8) pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits while striking out five, walking two and allowing just one unearned run.
GAME TWO: WSU 3, Augustana 0
The Warriors completed the important NSIC sweep with a 3-0 game two victory behind a six-hit shutout from McKenna Larsen, who improved to 10-3 on the season.
WSU produced all of its offense in a three-run second inning thanks to a two-run single up the middle from Allyson O'Herron and a one-run single up the middle from Reed Karsten to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead and all the offense it would need.
The Warriors, which were ranked ninth in the latest NCAA Central Region Rankings, picked up a pair of important regionally-ranked wins, as Augustana came into the games ranked seventh in the region.
Winona State (32-14) concludes the regular season this weekend, traveling to Sioux Falls to take on Sioux Falls Saturday at 1 p.m. before a noon matchup Sunday against Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn.
