Huskies advance to Saturday with comeback win over USF

Friday, May 14

Rochester, Minn.

12 p.m.

St. Cloud State

27-15

Minnesota State University - Mankato

36-7

St. Cloud State

MSU-Mankato

Brooke Bowlin rubs Shayla Running of a double in the sixth inning against Sioux Falls Friday afternoon.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

5/14/2021 10:00:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ROCHESTER, MINN. - There is never a dull moment with the St. Cloud State University softball team, especially at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament. After upended Winona State University Thursday, they Huskies were looking to pull off another upset, this time against #18 Minnesota State University-Mankato. While St. Cloud State came up short against the Mavericks, the Huskies staved up elimination, defeating the University of Sioux Falls 7-6 later in the afternoon.

St. Cloud State made very few mistakes against nationally ranked Minnesota State, but the few mistakes proved costly. In fact, the Huskies and ace Trinity Junker (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) held the No. 2 seeded Mavericks to just three hits in seven innings of play. It was the walks, though, that proved costly. Minnesota State made St. Cloud State pay for every walk Friday morning, as the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second off a two-run home run by Hannah Hastings after Hailey Forshee drew a one out walk.

Minnesota State extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Kylie Sulliven beat out a throw at first, allowing Hannah McCarville to score on the fielder's choice, before another home run in the fifth resulted in the 4-0 final score.

The Huskies had several chances to score throughout the game but were unable to capitalize with runners on base. That all changed in a wild, crazy elimination game, in which St. Cloud State needed to defeat upset-minded Sioux Falls to extend its season. The Huskies pulled off the 7-6 win but not without plenty of dramatics to go around. In fact, the odds did not seem to fall in St. Cloud State's favor, as the Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after an error in the outfield.

While the odds weren't in St. Cloud State's favor, luck, it seemed, was. Sioux Falls was poised to take a 2-0 lead in the first after Mika Rodriguez blasted a single to left field. The Cougars third base coach made a poor life choice, though, sending a second runner home. Cassie Francesconi (Schomberg, Ontario / Emily Carr Secondary) threw a perfect dart to a waiting Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake), allowing the catcher to tag the runner with ease for the second out of the inning.

After Kylie Thomsen (Elk Grove Village, Ill. / Elk Grove Village) got Kate VanderZwaag to pop out to shortstop, the Huskies went ahead and scored a run of their own in the bottom of the first, evening the score 1-1. Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family) led off the inning with a single and needed all the speed she could muster later in the inning, as Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) laced a triple down the left field line to tie the game.

Conrads and Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) were stranded on the bases in the first, but St. Cloud State scored its first run of the game and could vaguely taste victory. However, things hit a bit of a snag in the top of the fourth when Sioux Falls scored three runs on two hits, including a two-run home run by Frankie Michelson, for a 4-1 lead.

The Huskies answered in kind in the bottom of the inning, scoring a single run on a RBI double by Francesconi to make it 4-2. However, St. Cloud State's offense seemed stymied in the bottom of the fifth, as the Huskies loaded the bases with nothing to show for it, resulting in a 4-2 Cougar lead after five.

A definitive shift happened in the top of the sixth, however. With Sioux Falls seemingly in control, Shayla Running sent a ball careening to the left center fence, destined to either go over the fence or land just out of reach of the speedy Bowlin. The junior center fielder came up with, perhaps, the biggest grab in St. Cloud State softball history. Bowlin committed a highway robbery, stealing a hit from Running and maintaining just a two-run deficit for the Huskies.

In fact, there was a change in the winds after that. While rain started to lightly fall in Rochester, Minnesota, St. Cloud State went to work at the plate. Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) opened the inning with a lead off single and was bunted into scoring position by Francesconi. She later scored on a single by Trees, beating the throw at the plate with speed and agility to make it 4-3.

Bowlin kept the Huskies alive in the bottom of the sixth, beating out a throw by the pitcher for an infield single, and Conrads was walked to load the bases for Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour). The clutch shortstop hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Trees to score the game-tying run from third base with ease.

Rather than deal with Estrada, the Cougars opted to walk the designated player, loading the bases for Holly Weinberger (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia). The decision proved costly for Sioux Falls and benefited St. Cloud State, as the right fielder hit a sky high ball to shallow left field. On contact both Bowlin and Conrads sprinted for home and watched as the ball dropped out of the shortstops glove before she maintained control, giving the Huskies their first lead of the game at 6-4.

St. Cloud State added an insurance run one batter later, as Keating reached on an error and Estrada scored from third, making it 7-4 Huskies entering the top of the seventh. That final insurance run proved necessary, as the pesky Cougars just wouldn't go away. Sioux Falls opened the inning with back to back hits and cut the lead to 7-5 on a RBI single by Rodriguez. The Cougars then made it 7-6 when Running drew a two-out, bases loaded walk after St. Cloud State head coach Paula U'Ren put in Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bay Port) to close the game for the Huskies. The junior did that one batter later, as she got Damaris Cuevas to ground out to Conrads to clinch the 7-6 win for St. Cloud State.

Lauren Kirchberg (Columbus, Wis. / Columbus) earned the win in the circle for the Huskies after relieving Thomsen in the fourth inning. The sophomore surrendered just two earned runs in three innings of work, while LaPoint earned the save in the top of the seventh.

The slappers led the way for St. Cloud State at the plate, as Bowlin was 3-4 with two runs while Keating went 2-4 at the plate and additionally scored two runs of her own. Conrads, Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie), Vanden Langenberg, Francesconi and Trees also tallied hits in the Huskies win over the Cougars.

St. Cloud State staved off elimination thanks to its 7-6 victory over Sioux Falls and advanced to the final day of the NSIC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Huskies will face none other than Winona State at 10 a.m. Saturday morning at the RYSFA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota.