ROCHESTER, Minn. - After waiting until the late stages of three games to earn dramatic victories on Friday, the Winona State University softball team took a different approach on Saturday against St. Cloud State in the 10am game at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Softball Tournament.
Head coach
Greg Jones saw his team score two runs before the game was one inning old and Winona State looked to be dialed in across all facets of the game.
Winona State starting pitcher
Jordyn Kleman struck out the first Husky batter she saw to start the game and then helped end the inning on a double play, making a great snag on a hard-hit liner and then catching a SCSU runner off the bag at first. In a sign of things to come, it was a rare sighting of a Husky baserunner on the infield side of first base, as Kleman kept the SCSU offense in check the entire contest.
The Warriors (37-11) scored their two tallies in the first inning after
Katie Kolb and
Abbie Hlas drew back-to-back walks to start the game.
Alison Nowak then hit a single to advance the runners and load the bases for the Winona State team leader in RBIs,
Libby Neveau. Neveau drove in Kolb with a base hit and
Teaghen Amwoza earned another RBI after being hit by a pitch from SCSU's Trinity Junker.
Both teams went scoreless in the second and third innings, and in the bottom of the fourth, WSU added to their score when Kolb drove in
Ann Smolenski who singled moments earlier. The fifth inning was a repeat performance, this time with
Rylee Stout driving in Neveau who had hit her 14th double of the year earlier in the inning.
In a tournament where razor-thin run margins had been the order of the day, the 4-0 cushion was more than enough Kleman, who kept the Huskies tied up at the plate, notching six strikeouts in the game, including punching out the entire side in sixth. Her three-hit shutout reflected her dominance in the circle against St. Cloud State, as no Husky made it to second base successfully in the game.
Kleman moves to 24-5 on the year for Winona State; the Warriors move on to face #1 Augustana University at noon in Rochester.
For the complete 2021 NSIC Softball Tournament Central homepage,
visit this link.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
