No. 7 Winona State too much in softball doubleheader

Saturday, April 20

Winona, MN

1 p.m.

St. Cloud State

34-13, 16-7

Winona State University

38-5, 23-0

St. Cloud State

Winona State

Raven Vanden Langenberg make a play in the field in Saturday's doubleheader against Winona State.

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

4/20/2019 6:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WINONA, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University softball team entered Saturday afternoon's doubleheader against the Winona State University Warriors with an upset on its mind. The Warriors entered the game as the No. 7 team in the nation and were riding a 22 game win streak, which the Huskies were more than happy to put a stop to if they could. Unfortunately, Winona State proved why it received such a high ranking in the most recent national poll, as St. Cloud State fell 8-2 in game one and 3-0 in game two.

Things looked to be rolling the Huskies way in game one, as they opened by scoring the first run of the ball game in the top of the first. Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family) and Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) opened the game with back-to-back singles, putting speed on first and second for St. Cloud State with no outs in the game. Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) bunted to put the two speedsters on second and third, leaving runners in scoring presence for Morgan Emmans (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds Park Academy).

Emmans managed to hit a fly ball to center field, allowing Bowlin to score from third and give St. Cloud State a 1-0 advantage. Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) then walked, making look like the Huskies would score even more runs on Warrior ace Jordan Kleman. St. Cloud State's first inning would end at the next batter, as Kleman got Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) to ground out to the third baseman.

With a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, the Huskies were feeling pretty confident, especially since their own ace Kate Kopeck (Lumsden, Sask. / Lumsden) was on the mound to pitch game one. Kopeck had no issues with the first two batters of the game, as she sent down Winona State's one and two with a strikeout and a fly out. However, the reigning Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) player of the year tied the ball game on the very first pitch of her at bat, as Lani Van Zyl sent the ball over the center field fence to even the score at 1-1.

The Warriors then took a 2-1 lead on the very next batter, as Allison Nowak homered to give the No. 7 team their first lead of the ball game. Still, there was plenty of time for St. Cloud State to tie and regain a lead. Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be, as Winona State scored three runs in the bottom of the third to extend its lead to 5-1.

The Huskies did manage to get back within two in the top of the fourth, as Emmans scored on a sacrifice fly by Conrads to cut the lead to 5-2. Again, Winona State scored on a solo home run to regain a four run lead before a two run fifth resulted in an 8-2 advantage for the Warriros.

St. Cloud State seemed to put together a rally in the sixth and seventh, as both leadoff hitters managed to reach base in the respective innings. Estrada led of the sixth with a single up the middle while Cassie Francesconi hit an infield single in the seventh. Neither runner, though, was able to advance past second base, as Winona State took game one by a final score of 8-2.

Estrada and Vanden Langeberg both went 1-2 at the plate in the opener on Saturday, while Bowlin and Emmans accounted for the Huskies lone runs in the game.

Kopeck suffered just her fifth loss this season at the hands of the Warriors, as she gave up eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits in seven innings of work. She also tallied five strikeouts in the complete game effort, while forcing 12 flyouts and one groundout in the game.

St. Cloud State was hoping to bounce back with a win in game two, but Winona State again proved to be too much, as the Warriors would take that game as well by a score of 3-0. First year pitcher Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bayport) made just one mistake in the entire game, as Nowak's three-run home run in the bottom of the first proved to be the only runs Winona State would score in the entire game.

The Huskies had multiple opportunities to even the score or take the lead throughout the second game. In fact, St. Cloud State put the leadoff runner on base in the first, second, third and seventh innings but was never able to get a run across the board. The team's best chance came in the top of the seventh inning, as Vanden Langenberg drew a leadoff walk while Conrads singled up the middle to put runners on first and second with no outs in the innings.

Things started to unravel for the Huskies at that point. After Francesconi struck out swinging, Conrads was picked off at first. All wasn't lost, however, as Vanden Langenberg advanced to third and Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) was due at the plate from St. Cloud State. McFarlane, though, would not record an official at bat, as Vanden Langenberg was picked off at third to end the Huskies rally and give Winona State the 3-0 victory.

Keating recorded two of the Huskies three hits in game two while Conrads tallied the other. Like Kopeck, LaPoint suffered her fifth loss of the season on Saturday, as the three-run home run proved to be her lone mistake in the game. In fact, the first year gave up just three runs on five hits in seven innings of work, holding the Warriors to some of their lowest hit and run totals in NSIC play this season.

With the losses, St. Cloud State's record now stands at 34-14 and the team is 16-8 in NSIC play. The Huskies will return to action on Wednesday, April 24 when they face Northern State University at 2 and 4 p.m. in Aberdeen, South Dakota.