BRANSON, Mo. - The Winona State University softball team made the trip down to Branson, Mo. to take part of the Showtime Classic where they played the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Lincoln University of Nebraska, Missouri S&T, University of Central Oklahoma, and Missouri Southern going 4-1 on the weekend.
WSU: 5, UNK:2
In game one, the Lopers were the first to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning after Mary Chvatal hit a double and Gianna Galli got walked followed by Leah Jurgens hit a RBI single to score Chvatal. The Warriors were unable to answer back until top of the third inning when Braelee Jordarski got on base with a double and
Logan Anderson reached on off of an error made by the Lopers' left fielder and that is when
Alyssa Woelfel hit a three run home run to put WSU up 3-1. Neither team would plate a run until Winona State score two more runs in the top of the fifth when
Indigo Fish and
Nora Brandt reached on base off of two fielder's choices putting runners on first and third and
Kiley Slaats hitting a triple to score Fish and Brandt to put the Warriors up 5-1. UNK tried to answer back in the bottom of the seventh by Bailey Peterson getting walked and advancing to second on a fielder's choice hit by Alivia De La Cruz and Chvatal hitting a RBI double scoring Peterson, but the Lopers were unable to plate anymore runs with a final score of WSU 5, UNK 2.
In the circle,
Izzy Howe pitched all seven innings and collected nine strikeouts to help in the Winona State victory. At the plate, Jodarski went 1 for 3 with a double, Woelfel went 3 for 4 with a triplem home run and two RBIs, and Slaats went 1 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs.
WSU: 4, LU: 3
Winona State was the first to get on the board in the bottom of the first when Jordaski hit a solo home run to give them an early lead of 1-0. Neither the Warriors or the Blue Tigers were able to get any runs across until the top of the fourth when LU MacKenzie Graham hit a solo home run to tie up the game 1-1. The game continued to a pitchers dual taking the game into an extra inning and going into international tie-breaker rules where the Blue Tigers had Abbi Conrad placed at second who them advanced to third off of a single by Ann-Marie Simpson who then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lindsey Brandt. Conrad then scoring on a single by Torri Hinnah followed by Graham then hit a RBI single to score Simpson going up 3-1. The Warriors had Slaats placed at second for the international tie-breaker rules.
Sam Keller was the first in the box and got on base with a walk followed by
Tiegan Mancuso hitting a single to load the bases. Jodarski lined out to the LU right fielder, which allowed Slaats to score off of an error made by the catcher, leaving runners on second and third. Anderson stepped into the box and hit the game winning double to score Keller and Mancuso to have WSU win 4-3.
In the circle,
Jayda Berg pitched all eight inning collecting seven strikeouts to help the Warriors win in extra innings. At the plate, Jodarski went 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, Anderson went 1 for 4 with the game winning double and two RBIs, and Elsenpeter went 2 for 3.
WSU: 8, MST: 0
The Warriors and the Miners started the game off with a pitchers duel until top of the third Keller started the inning off with a double followed by a single by both Jodarski and Woefel to load up the bases. Fish came up and hit a RBI single scoring Keller and Jodarski followed by a two run triple hit by Johnson to put WSU up 4-0. Winona State continued to add runs to the board again in the fifth inning when Slaats reached on off of a hit by pitch and shortly after stole second base to then be hit in off of a RBI single from Anderson to put the Warriors up 5-0. The Warriors would then score two more in the sixth inning with Keller getting walked to then be hit in off of a triple by Slaats followed up by a RBI single from Anderson, which scored Slaats, putting WSU up 7-0. Going into the top of the seventh, Johnson started things off with a single and then had a pinch runner,
Kailey Plank, come in.
Bryn Elsenpeter then came up to the plate and hit a RBI double to score Plank to put Winona State up 8-0. The Miners couldn't get the bats going allowing the Warriors to win 8-0.
In the circle, Howe pitched all seven innings collecting 12 strikeouts to aid in the WSU victory. At the plate, Keller went 2 for 4 with two doubles, Slaats went 1 for 3 with a triple and a RBI, Anderson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Fish went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Johnson went 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs, and Elsenpeter went 1 for 3 with a double and a RBI.
UCO: 11, WSU: 0
The Warriors were unable to bat in any runs in a hard fought battle against the Bronchos. UCO got on the board right away in the first inning with singles hit by Rylee Lemos and Rylee Anglen followed by a RBI single hit by Kennedy Clark. For Winona State, Slaats was able to get things started in the first with a single, but unfortunately got out on a fielder's choice that took place when Jodarski hit the ball back at the pitcher. Anderson then came up and hit a double to put both herself and Jodarski into scoring position, but the Warriors were unable to hit either Jodarski or Anderson in. WSU saw themselves in yet another pitchers duel until the top of the third when the Bronchos got on base on a fielder's choice hit by Clark and and single hit by Terin Ritz. UCO loaded the bases when Emily Deramus was hit by a pitch followed by a single hit by Ariah Mitchell to score Clark and Ritz. No other runs were score until the fifth inning were the Bronchos plated four more runs off of Ritz reaching on off of a fielder's choice, Deramus reaching on off of an Warriors error, and Mitchell hitting a RBI single leaving two runners on. Makenzie Fithian then hit a three run home run to put UCO up 7-0. The Warriors again get the bases loaded off of a three singles hit by
Jenna James, Keller, and Jodarski, but WSU was unable to plate any of those runners. UCO would plate four more runs in the top of the sixth inning to put them up 11-0. Winona State tried to find the gaps to keep the game alive, but were unable to get any runs across, falling 11-0.
In the circle, Berg pitched 5.1 inning collecting two strikeouts and was relieved by
Shayna Woolwine, who pitched .2 innings in the Warriors loss. At the plate, Anderson went 1 for 3 with a double.
WSU: 2, MSSU: 1
Both the Warriors and the Lions started strong in the circle keeping the game scoreless until the bottom of the fourth where WSU was the first to cross home plate. In the bottom of the fourth Jodarski was walked right away and then took second on a past ball. Anderson reached on by an error bad by the Lions' first baseman to put runners on first and second. Woelfel then reached on off another error made by the MSSU shortstop to load the bases. After a pitching change made by the Lions, Jodarski was able to score off of a past ball. With Fish at the plate, Woelfel advanced to second on an interface on the MSSU first baseman moving Anderson and Woelfel into scoring position. Still during Fish's at bat, Anderson scored and Woelfel advanced to third off of a past ball putting the Warriors up 2-0. The Lions would get on the board in the top of the sixth with Bailey Dillo hitting a single, Katie Gray getting walked, and Maddie Rolfs hitting a RBI single to score Dillo. Winona State was unable to get any other runs across in the bottom of the sixth, but were able to hold MSSU in the top of the seventh to secure the 2-1 victory.
In the circle, Howe pitched all seven innings collecting 13 strikeouts in the win over Missouri Southern. At the plate, Keller went 1 for 3 along side Jodarski and
Ashlee Chantos both going 1 for 2.
The Winona State University softball team will be heading down to Florida for The Spring Games with their first game against Glenville State University on Friday, March 7 with first pitch at 11:15 a.m. EST/ 10:15 a.m. CST.
