WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University softball team, celebrating four outstanding Warriors on senior day, put together a pair of dominating performances in sweeping Wayne State College, 18-0 and 15-0.
Seniors
Katie Kolb,
Carly Kordich Alison Nowak and
Jordyn Kleman were honored in between games by head coach
Greg Jones and his staff, as they played their final home games at Winona State. The four standouts were sent off in fine fashion with a pair of shutout wins.
Game One
Senior
Jordyn Kleman took the circle one last time at home and cruised to her 20
th win of the season, handcuffing the Wildcats in almost every at-bat in yet another dominant performance.
Kleman struck out five WSC batters in just three and one-third innings, giving up two first stanza singles before ending the inning with a strikeout.
As untouchable as Warrior pitching was, the Winona State bats battered Wildcat pitching to the tune of 18 runs, 17 hits and runs scored in all but one inning of the game WSU opened the game with an 11-run first frame, added one in the second and scored six in the fourth.
After Kleman, Kolb, Kordich and Nowak exited the game to a standing ovation in later stages of the contest,
Emilee Erickson took over in the circle and picked up where Kleman left off, holding Wayne State scoreless in one and one-third innings pitched.
Offensively, several Warriors found their way to the box score, led by
Libby Neveau who was 2-for-2 with five RBI, as well as
Alison Nowak was also 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
Abbie Hlas went 2-for-2 in the game, one of 14 different WSU players collecting at least one hit. Neveau had a three-run homer in the game, marking her team-leading 13
th round-tripper of the season.
Wayne State threw a trio of pitchers in the game, with Maddie Moser, Ashley Bohannon and Callie Carraher all logging time in the circle. Moser took the loss for Wayne State, while Kleman's 20
th win of the regular season places her second in the NSIC, just two behind Ashley Mickschl of Augustana and one ahead of Minnesota State's Mackenzie Ward.
Game Two
The Winona State side of the scoreboard continued to light up in game two as
Liz Pautz got the call and delivered another Warrior win, throwing a complete-game five-inning two-hitter.
Pautz struck out eight Wildcats, walked only two and moved to 11-5 on the season. Her WSC counterparts, first Sloan Cooksey and eventually Callie Carraher, conceding 13 hits and 15 runs to the Warriors.
As in game one, Winona State needed just one inning to take control of the outcome, posting nine runs in the bottom of the first inning. WSU added six more in the bottom of the fourth, reaching their final impressive tally of 15.
Alison Nowak led the way with a 2-for-4 game at the plate, driving in four runs.
Katie Kolb added three RBI, going 1-for-3 and drawing a walk. Kolb,
Abbie Hlas and
Libby Neveau all had doubles for the Warriors. As a team, ten different Winona State players had at least base hit in the game.
Liz Pautz moves her record to 11-5 on the 2021 Winona State campaign and earns her third shutout of the year.
Finishing the regular season with a 33-10 overall record and 22-8 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Warriors advance to the 2021 NSIC Softball Tournament as the third seed, one game ahead of the University of Minnesota Duluth who finished 21-9.
The top ten teams in the final regular season standings will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 13-15 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minn.
For Winona State, their NSIC Tournament day one match-up will be against St. Cloud State on Thursday. The Huskies and Warriors will face off on Field A at noon.
or 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.
