Huskies extend win streak on day one in Florida

Tuesday, March 5

Clermont, Fla.

2:30 p.m. EST

St. Cloud State

8-1

Felician College

3-9

St. Cloud State

Felician

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

3/5/2019 10:18:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLERMONT, FLA. – The St. Cloud State University softball team could not have asked for a better start to the team's spring break trip down to Florida. Yes, it was sunny and warm, everything Minnesota is not, and a pretty good place to get two more wins. That's right, the Huskies opened their trip to Florida with two wins, starting with a 10-2 win over Felician University before coming up with a big 4-2 come from behind win over Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in the nightcap.

St. Cloud State couldn't have asked for a better start to the trip, as they opened with a dominant 10-2 lead over Felician. As they have all season, the Huskies wasted no time getting on the board, as they took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After leading off the game with a triple, first year right fielder Alexandra Pinkowski (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) scored on an RBI single from Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Warrensville-Wheaton) to give St. Cloud State the initial 1-0 lead.

From there, the Huskies just continued to tack on the runs, scoring two more in the first and three on a three-run home run by Morgan Emmans (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds Academy) in the top of the fourth. However, the Goldens Eagles weren't about to be shut out, as they managed to score two runs off senior pitcher Kate Kopeck (Lumsden, Sask. / Lumsden) in the bottom of the fifth. Those two runs, though, were the only Kopeck would surrender, as she earned her fourth win of the season by giving up just two runs on eight hits while striking out six in five innings of work.

In the end, the Golden Eagles two runs didn't matter, as St. Cloud State scored four in the top of the sixth thanks to a double by Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) and a single by Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield). With a 10-2 cushion, Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bay Port) pitched a perfect inning in the bottom of the six, securing the 10-2 win for the Huskies.

Game two was much tighter than game one, as a fifth inning rally helped St. Cloud State secure a comeback 4-2 win over Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The Huskies found themselves playing catch up early, as the Fighting Scots took 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Still St. Cloud State battled and eventually tied the game in the third courtesy of Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South). The sophomore shortstop scored the game-tying run on a single by Bowlin, knotting the game at 1-1.

Senior pitcher Bradi Yost (Parkersburgh, Iowa / Aplington-Parkersburg) kept Edinboro off the bored until the top of the fifth, when the Fighting Scots scored their second run of the game to go up 2-1. Of course, that didn't deter the Huskies, as they rallied for a huge fifth inning, scoring three runs by showing plenty of patience at the plate. In fact, St. Cloud State batters drew three walks in the inning while two were hit by pitches, helping the Huskies get three runners across the board.

McFarlane delivered the big hit in the inning, as her two-RBI single scored Bowlin from third and Emmans from first to give St. Cloud State its first lead of the game at 3-2. The Huskies then tacked on an insurance run, as McFarlane was walked in thanks to Estrada, who drew the two out walk.

With a 4-2 lead, St. Cloud State turned to LaPoint to close out the game. The freshman again pitched two flawless innings, as she struck out three of the six batters she faced to earn the first save of her collegiate career as a Husky.

Keating hit over .500 against both the Golden Falcons and Fighting Scots, as she went 3-4 in St. Cloud State's opening game and 2-4 in the win over Edinboro. Bowlin and McFarlane went 2-3 against Felician as well.

With the wins, the Huskies overall record improves to 9-1 and they extend their win streak to eight games. St. Cloud State will return to the field at 9 a.m. EST on Wednesday, March 6 when the team takes on the University of Findlay.