CLERMONT, Fla. – After making the biggest leap of any team in the Division II softball poll on Wednesday afternoon, from No. 19 to No. 8, Winona State University continued to roll at The Spring Games Tournament with another twinbill sweep. The Warriors edged Cedarville University, 4-3, before ending the day with a 14-2 thumping of Urbana University.
The Warriors (15-2) came from behind for victories in both ballgames.
Despite committing four errors and scratching the plate in only one inning against Cedarville, Winona State was able to overcome a 2-0 fourth-inning deficit.
Entering the bottom of the fourth trailing by two runs, McKenna Larsen sparked the Warrior offense with a single up the middle on a full count. The Yellowjackets then committed an error, and Jamee Schleis followed with a single to load the bases. Paige Keegan followed with a bases-loaded walk to make it a one-run game. After running into an out on the base path, Winona's two-out magic this season continued.
Samantha McLean came through with a two-run single to center to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. Katelyn Kolb was next with an RBI-single to give WSU a two-run lead before the inning came to an end.
The Warriors concluded the day with a .346 batting average (53-for-153) with two outs, including 46 two-out RBI on the year.
Cedarville tacked on one final run in the sixth inning, but sophomore Jordyn Kleman (4-0) would not be denied the win in the pitching circle. The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits over 7.0 IP for her fourth complete game of the season.
The Warrior bats proceeded to explode for 14 runs over the final three frames of the five-inning run-ruled affair against Urbana. Katie Schlegel's pinch hit three-run homer put an exclamation point on Winona's seven-run fifth inning.
A bases-loaded walk by Rylee Stout knotted the score for WSU in the third inning, and McKenna Larsen, the game's starting pitcher, came up next with a sac fly to give her team the lead for good at 2-1. Larsen plated two more runs in the Warriors' four-run fourth frame, while Stout and Lani Van Zyl each record RBI in the inning as Winona stretched its lead to 7-1.
After sending nine batters to the plate in the fourth inning, 10 Winona batters took their hacks in the top of the fifth. Mariah Schultz and Schleis each reached base to begin the frame with Kolb to follow, capping her 4-for-7 combined day with an RBI-single. Pinch hitter Rina Niehoff reached and drove in a run on a Blue Knights' error, as did Stout with an Urbana miscue, prior to Schlegel's three-run blast. McKenna Gutt also added a pinch hit RBI-single before the inning came to an end.
Larsen (5-2) struck out four batters in the circle over 4.0 IP while allowing just one unearned run en route to her fifth win of the year.
The Warriors conclude their Florida road trip on Thursday with games against Grand Valley State and Mercyhurst University.
