WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University softball team secured the 2026 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Softball Regular Season Championship with a doubleheader sweep over Minnesota Crookston today.
WSU earned an 11-inning victory in game one as
Ava Smith hit a three-run walk-off home run and
Izzy Howe threw her second no-hitter in consecutive days in a 6-0 win in game two.
The Warriors closed the regular season with a 47-8 overall record, including a 26-4 NSIC mark to earn the 2026 NSIC Softball Regular Championship for the sixth time in program history and first since 2019.
Game One: WSU (9) – UMC (7)
Each team collected a hit in their respective half of the first inning but were unable to bring the runner in. Winona State put the first tally on the board in the second after
Braelee Jodarski tripled and later scored on a Golden Eagle error.
Minnesota Crookston answered right back with four singles to plate two runs in the third and take a 2-1 lead. After the first two batters in the bottom of the fourth got out,
Lila McNeill started a two-out rally with a solo homer. A pair of walks brought
Alyssa Woelfel to the plate, where she blasted a three-run home run over the left field fence to give the Warriors a 6-5 lead.
Going into their final three outs, the Golden Eagles tied it up with a solo shot to force extra innings. Neither team was able to score until UMC scored a run in the top of the 11th to take a 7-6 lead. In the bottom half of the inning,
Nicole Weinberger walked, then Woelfel hit a single to put runners on first and third with one out. Smith entered the game as a pinch hitter and took the full count pitch over the fence for a walk off three-run homer to give WSU the 9-7 victory.
Woelfel and
Tiegan Mancuso each had a pair of hits as seven different batters scattered nine Warrior hits in the game. Howe started the game in the circle, going 4.1 innings while allowing three runs.
Ashley Theisen pitched 1.2 innings in relief, and
Jayda Berg pitched the game's final 5.0 innings to earn the win.
Game Two: WSU (6) – UMC (0)
Howe was magnificent in the circle, pitching her second no-hitter in consecutive days while striking out 10 batters.
After a first-inning stalemate, Winona State broke the game wide open on a two RBI single from Woelfel, then a three-run shot over the right field fence from
Bryn Elsenpeter to give WSU a 5-0 lead.
The Warriors added one more run in the fourth to take a six-run lead and Howe sealed the deal to give WSU their sixth NSIC Regular Season Title in program history.
Howe delivered her third career no-hitter in the circle while the Warriors scattered six hits offensively, led by Woelfel and Elsenpeter each having a pair.
Winona State will turn their attention to the 2026 NSIC Softball Tournament, where they will play on Thursday, May 7th in Sioux Falls, S.D.
