ROSEMONT, Ill. – After losing two games on the same day for the first time in nearly two full years Friday, Winona State University looked like its dominant self again on Saturday afternoon in day two of the Lewis Dome Invitational.
Jordyn Kleman tossed a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts to begin the day and Liz Pautz posted her second straight impressive performance in the circle for the No. 15-ranked Warriors. At the plate, Lani Van Zyl eclipsed the 200-hit milestone in her WSU career.
With Kleman on the bump, Winona State came away with a 1-0 victory against the University of Findlay and the Warriors ended the day with a 6-1 triumph over UW-Parkside.
Kleman (2-0), who missed Friday's ballgames with the flu, only allowed one Findlay runner to reach second base in her second consecutive complete game win of the year. After fanning 11 batters in her first start of the season, the junior right-hander recorded a dozen punchouts on Saturday.
Sophomore Carly Kordich went 2-for-3 at the plate, including the game-winning RBI-single in the bottom of the fourth frame to score Jaida Reynen who had doubled with one out earlier in the inning.
Against Parkside, Van Zyl uncorked her 200th career-hit in the form of an RBI-double in the top of the first to drive in Katie Kolb. Alison Nowak was next with the start of her big game with an RBI-single to plate Van Zyl to give Pautz and the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
Pautz (1-0) sat down the first 10 Parkside batters she faced en route to her first win in a WSU uniform. The sophomore scattered six hits over 6.0 IP with six strikeouts while extending her streak of innings pitched without an earned run to 16.1 over her last three appearances.
Nowak finished the day 3-for-4 and added a run-scoring double in the third inning. The Warriors tacked on two unearned runs in the fourth frame before Van Zyl closed the day with an RBI-single in the sixth. Kordich drew a pair of walks and scored twice in the game.
Katie Schlegel made her second straight scoreless relief appearance to close out the day.
Winona State (4-2) concludes its five-game weekend trip against tournament host Lewis University on Sunday at 11 a.m.
