WAYNE, Neb. – For the second time in 10 days, Winona State University's Jordyn Kleman no-hit the opposition in the midst of the Warriors' program-record 26 game winning streak. Kleman twirled her seventh career no-hitter in a 9-0 (5 inning) WSU win to open the day before Liz Pautz blanked the Wayne State Wildcats in game two, 10-0.
No. 7 Winona State improves to 41-5 (26-0 NSIC) and will return home this weekend to wrap up the regular season with the conference championship in sight. The Warriors, who have tallied at least 40 wins in three straight seasons, moved up the NCAA DII Central Region Rankings to No. 2 before taking the field on Wednesday afternoon.
Kleman (22-1) walked a batter in the first and fifth innings, but kept the bases clear for the remainder of the tilt. The junior right-hander struck out three batters in her no-hit bid while lowering her league-leading opponent batting average to .159 and tallying her NSIC-best 22nd win in the circle.
Offensively, Lani Van Zyl and Alexis Kelsey combined for eight of the nine WSU RBI. Van Zyl got her five-RBI day started with a two-run dinger to left-center field in the top of the first frame and tacked on an RBI-double in the second. Van Zyl would circle the bases for her second two-homer outing of the year with another two-run shot in the third inning.
Alison Nowak and Jen Giesey drove in three runs apiece in the sweep finale. In total, the Warriors combined for 21 hits compared to just four on the day for Wayne State.
Winona State also displayed some clutch hitting in game two, scoring four of its first six runs over the first four frames with two outs. The Warriors ended the afternoon on a high note by sending across four more runs in the seventh inning highlighted by a two-run single from Katie Kolb.
In the circle, Pautz (15-2) scattered four hits over 6.0 IP while walking one batter and striking out eight. The sophomore lowered her eye-popping ERA to 0.80 which ranks second among all Division II pitchers. Senior Katie Schlegel recorded the final three outs in the seventh inning in relief of Pautz by sitting the Wildcats down in order.
Winona State enters the final weekend of the regular season needing to win three of its final four games for an outright NSIC Championship – it would mark the first back-to-back regular season titles in program history. The Warriors' weekend schedule has been altered due to inclement forecasted weather when UMary and Minot State come to town.
The Warriors host UMary on Friday in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. and will celebrate Senior/Alumni Day on Sunday following a 12 p.m. affair against Minot State. Winona State will also welcome home members of its 2009 World Series team on Sunday at Maynard R. Johnson Field.
