U'Ren notches 700th career win with split

Friday, March 22

Emporia, Kansas

10 a.m.

St. Cloud State

17-6

University of Central Missouri

14-9

Central Missouri

St. Cloud State

Head coach Paula U'Ren became the first coach in program history with 700 career wins.

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

3/22/2019 3:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

EMPORIA, KANSAS – St. Cloud State University head softball coach Paula U'Ren has already put together quite the resume in her 22 years with the Huskies. Friday afternoon, the longtime coach recorded yet another impressive milestone, as she notched career win number 700 in St. Cloud State's split at the Emporia State Softball Classic in Emporia, Kansas. Despite having to wait through three games and an 8-4 loss to the University of Central Washington in the morning, a 7-3 victory over Washburn secured the seemingly elusive 700^th win for U'Ren and snapped St. Cloud State's three-game losing skid.

The Huskies suffered an 8-4 defeat to open the day despite a near comeback in the second half of the ball game. After falling behind 5-0 after the first 3.5 innings, St. Cloud State finally got some offense going, cutting the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) kicked things off with a single up the middle before Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family) reached on an error by the shortstop to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Estrada was called out on a close play at home, trying to score from second on a single by Cassie Francesconi (Schomberg, Ont. / Emily Carr Secondary School) two batters later. Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) would come in clutch for the Huskies, as her two-out single brought both Bowlin and Francesconi home, cutting the Jennies lead to 5-2 with three innings remaining.

St. Cloud State would strike again in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-4 on another RBI single from Trees. That was all the damage the Huskies would do, though, as a four-running inning for Central Missouri in the top of the seventh swung the momentum back in the Jennies direction. St. Cloud State eventually went down in order in the bottom of the inning, resulting in the 8-4 loss.

Win 700 for U'Ren came in the second game of the day, as the Huskies overpowered Washburn in a 7-3 victory. Estrada gave St. Cloud State an early 2-0 advantage, as her home run gave the Huskies an early lead in the top of the first. From there, it was basically all St. Cloud State all the time, as the team tacked on two more runs in the second courtesy of an RBI single from Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour). Morgan Emmans (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds Park Academy) then gave the Huskies a 5-0 lead in the third, as she blasted a home run over the center field fence in the top of the inning.

The Ichabods eventually managed to score on senior ace Kate Kopeck (Lumsden, Sask. / Lumsden) in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead to 5-1 before scoring two more in the bottom of the seventh. The damage, though, had already been done by St. Cloud State, as the team scored two runs in the top of the seventh to secure the 7-3 victory over Washburn.

Estrada was the Huskies top hitter on the day, as she went 1-3 in the first game against Central Missouri before going 2-4 with one run and three RBI against the Ichabods. Trees tallied the first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of her career in the loss to the Jennies, as she went 2-3 at the plate with a career-high four RBI for St. Cloud State.

With the split, the Huskies overall record improves to 18-6 as they go 1-3 at the Emporia State Softball Classic. As of now, St. Cloud State is scheduled to kick off the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) season on the road this upcoming Tuesday when the team travels to Duluth, Minnesota to take on the University of Minnesota Duluth.