ABERDEEN, S.D. – Four different Warriors combined for six long balls as No. 22 Winona State University completed a four-game weekend sweep culminating with a pair of wins over MSU Moorhead on Sunday afternoon at the Presentation College Dome. Alison Nowak homered in both ballgames while Lani Van Zyl connected on a pair of round-trippers in the finale.
WSU followed Saturday's blueprint with an extra inning victory and a run-ruled triumph – outlasting the Dragons in the opener in eight innings, 3-2, before thumping Moorhead in the five-inning finale, 12-0.
Following a two-game skid where the Warriors plated just one run last weekend, Winona State (21-5, 6-0 NSIC) has averaged nearly eight runs per game to begin conference play.
In the circle, Jordyn Kleman (11-1) and Liz Pautz (6-2) continued to dominate the opposition. Kleman allowed two runs on just two hits over 8.0 IP. The junior recorded her fifth double-digit strikeout performance (12) while tallying her ninth complete game of the year. Pautz surrendered just one hit while striking out seven over 4.1 IP in the nightcap.
In game one, Kleman served up both Dragon hits in the bottom of the second inning as Moorhead took the lead on a two-run homer. The right-handed hurler proceeded to retired 18 of the next 20 batters she faced over the final six frames.
The Dragons blanked the Warriors offensively over the first five innings until Nowak belted a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make it a 2-1 affair. After rallying for a comeback win to push extra innings on Saturday, Winona State scored three unanswered runs over the final three innings for the win Sunday.
Van Zyl drove in the game-tying run with the Warriors down to their final two outs in the top of the seventh and Jen Giesey's sac fly in the eighth accounted for the game-winning run. Giesey drove in six runs over the four-game road trip.
The Warrior offense carried over its late-inning magic from the opener into game two by scoring at least one run in every inning of the finale. Van Zyl got the fireworks started with a solo shot to left field in the top of the first inning and the rout was on from there.
Winona State played small ball two a pair of runs in the second frame before Van Zyl went deep again on the front end of back-to-back blasts with Nowak in the third inning. Leading 6-0 in the fifth, Katie Kolb connected on an RBI-single ahead of Alexis Kelsey's grand slam to make it an 11-0 affair. Ann Smolenski capped the six-run fifth with a solo homer to center.
Nowaks padded her NSIC-leading batting average to .471 on the day while adding to her team-leading totals in homers (6) and RBI (27). Smolenski extended her hitting streak to eight straight games and is now batting .400 on the year. Van Zyl scored a season-best four times in the nightcap while recording her fourth multi-hit effort in the last five games.
The Warriors return to the diamond on Tuesday with a twinbil at Minnesota State Mankato at 2 p.m.
