Lani Van Zyl vs Northern State
Nicole Hoffmann
5
Minnesota State MSU 24-11, 5-6 NSIC
6
Winner Winona State WSU 29-4, 8-1 NSIC
Minnesota State MSU
24-11, 5-6 NSIC
5
Final
6
Winona State WSU
29-4, 8-1 NSIC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota State MSU 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 5 17 3
Winona State WSU 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 1 6 8 3

W: Larsen, McKenna (10-3) L: Ward, Mackenzie (10-6)

0
Minnesota State MSU 24-12, 5-7 NSIC
8
Winner Winona State WSU 30-4, 9-1 NSIC
Minnesota State MSU
24-12, 5-7 NSIC
0
Final
8
Winona State WSU
30-4, 9-1 NSIC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Minnesota State MSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Winona State WSU 0 0 2 1 5 8 15 0

W: Kleman, Jordyn (12-1) L: Stone, Caitlin (8-2)

Game Recap: Softball |

No. 10 Winona State sweeps defending national champs

WINONA, Minn. – Lani Van Zyl homered twice and drove in five runs Thursday afternoon as No. 10 Winona State University swept (RV) Minnesota State Mankato at Maynard R. Johnson Field. The Warriors have defeated the Mavericks in all three meetings during the 2018 season.

Winona State (30-4, 9-1 NSIC) outlasted Mankato (24-12, 5-7 NSIC) in extra innings of game one, 6-5, before a dominant run-ruled 8-0 victory in the finale.

The opener was a back-and-forth affair in which Alison Nowak drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to plate Katelyn Kolb for the game-winning run. Nowak drove in two runs in Winona's game one triumph.

The Warriors trailed 1-0 after two innings and 4-2 after four, and each time Van Zyl was at the center of the home team's rally. The junior tied the game with an RBI-single in the bottom of the third and connected on a three-run homer in the fifth to give WSU a 5-4 lead.

The Mavericks rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the seventh, and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the frame to send the game to extra innings before Nowak and the Warriors' walked off with the victory.

Winona State was out-hit 17-8 in the ballgame, but found a way to prevail as the Warriors have shown the ability to do all season.

McKenna Larsen (10-3) picked up the hard-fought win in the circle for WSU. The senior allowed four runs (three earned) over 7.0 IP. Larsen started the game and pitched five innings before being relieved by Jordyn Kleman and came back on in relief in extra innings to complete the win.

Kleman (12-1), who was coming off a 15-strikeout no-hitter in her last outing, struck out seven Mavericks in game two and allowed just four hits in her team-leading fifth shutout of the year.

The Warriors bats came to life in the finale with five players recording at least two hits. Ann Smolenski led the way with a 3-for-3 effort.

Nowak continued her big day with a two-run double in the third inning to break the scoring seal, and the route was on from there. Kolb stretched the Warrior lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth before Winona posted a five-run fifth to end the ballgame early.

Van Zyl launched her team-leading ninth home run of the season to spark the fifth-inning rally. She combined to go 3-for-5 with three walks on the day while extending her hitting streak to a season-best 16 consecutive games.

Smolenski and Jamee Schleis each added run-scoring hits in the inning and Carly Kordich ended the affair with a two-run single.

Larsen went 2-for-2 at the plate in the finale to reach 200 hits in her Warrior career, becoming the 16th player in program history to reach that milestone.

Winona State will travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota this weekend for four more conference games. The Warriors take on St. Cloud State in a doubleheader on Friday and close the road trip with a doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth.

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