St. Cloud State
22-13, 0
University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)
20-18, 0
Softball earns key split against Sioux Falls
5/2/2021 4:05:00 PM | Softball
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - It is officially crunch time for the St. Cloud State University softball team. After a sweep of Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday, the Huskies were in prime position to move up the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) standings before the final weekend of the regular season. A sweep, and St. Cloud State could leapfrog its opponent, Sioux Falls, in the conference standings and move into the top eight. The Huskies battled their way to a split with the Cougars, moving into soul possession of ninth place entering the final weekend of 2021.Â
Game one had a similar start as many of St. Cloud State's recent games, with Sioux Falls taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Like recent games, though, the Huskies answered in the very next inning, as they scored one run on a Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) RBI single to make it 1-1 after two and a half innings of play. However, the Cougars bats game to life in the bottom of the same inning, as they scored three runs on four hits to regan a 4-1 advantage.
As teams in the NSIC have learned, though, St. Cloud State is never far out of any game. However, Sioux Falls did more damage for the Huskies chance at a comeback, as the home team put four runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead to 8-1. Still, St. Cloud State was not deterred. Down to the final three outs, the Huskies rallied to score three runs to cut the Sioux Falls lead to 8-4. Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) ignited the Huskies offense, as she hit a leadoff single to left field to open the inning. Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) bunted the catcher over to second, and Trees eventually reached third on a passed ball to get 60 feet away from home plate.Â
Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family) ripped the ball up the middle only to see it caught by the Cougars pitcher, leaving the Huskies just one out away from defeat. Rather than get down on themselves, the team tallied three consecutive hits, starting with a RBI double by Megan Conrads (Lakville, Minn. / Lakeville South). Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) followed up Conrads double with on of her own, while Estrada connected for her second RBI single of the game to cut the Sioux Falls lead to 8-4.Â
St. Cloud State's rally, though, came to a grinding halt, as a groundout resulted in the third out of the inning and an 8-4 victory for the Cougars. Conrdas went 3-4 at the plate in the loss with two runs and one RBI, while Estrada was 2-4 with a team-leading two RBI.
The Huskies outran both the rain and Sioux Falls in the second game, as Trinity Junker (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) guided them to a 4-0 victory to earn a key split in NSIC play. The first year pitcher was gold on the mound for St. Cloud State, as she went the distance to tally the first complete game shutout victory of her Huskies career. In seven complete innings of work, Junker tallied five strikeouts and surrendered just four hits, allowing only seven batters total to reach base.Â
Even with Junker on the mound, St. Cloud State set itself up for success early, as the team scored two quick runs in the top of the first inning for a 2-0 lead. Bowlin and Conrads opened the game with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and third for the Huskies with no outs. Bowlin scored on a RBI groundout by Estrada and Conrads scored on a RBI single by Holly Weinberger (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia), giving St. Cloud State the 2-0 lead with at least six innings remaining in the ball game.Â
The 2-0 lead held for four full innings before the Huskies tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth. Again, it was the Bowlin-Conrads duo that resulted in St. Cloud State's runs, as Bowlin managed a two-out infield single before stealing second during Conrads at bat. Stealing second wasn't exactly necessary, though, as Conrads belted a home run over the left field fence, scoring herself and Bowlin to extend the Huskies lead to 4-0.
Junker took care of the rest. The first year stifled Sioux Falls hopes of making a comeback, as she pitched her way out of jams in both the fifth and sixth inning before coming in to close the seventh. After getting a pop out to the shortstop to open the inning, the Cougars first baseman Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag managed hit a double off Junker, giving Sioux Falls its first runner in scoring position in many innings. Junker got the next batter to strike out before the game ended on a SportsCenter worthy play at the plate. Frankie Mickelson singled to left field, and all signs pointed to the Cougars scoring their first run of the ball game. Cassie Francesconi (Schomberg, Ontario / Emily Carr Secondary School) threw a dart all the way home, allowing Trees to tag out the Sioux Falls runner with ease and end the game for the Huskies.Â
Several St. Cloud State batters were stars in the game two win over the Cougars, including Conrads, who went 2-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI. Bowlin went 2-4 with two runs in the game, while Estrada and Weinberger both went 1-3 at the plate with one RBI.Â
With the split, the Huskies overall record improves to 23-13 and the team is 12-10 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will return home for its final doubleheaders of the regular season, as the team hosts MSU-Moorhead at 12 and 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 8.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: VanDerZwaag, Kaitlyn (11-8)
L: LaPoint, Sydney (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Conrads, Megan 1 ; Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1 ; Francesconi, Cassie 1
RBI: Conrads, Megan 1 ; Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1 ; Estrada, Jasmin 2
SH: Bowlin, Brooke 1 ; Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1 ; Keating, Maya 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Conrads, Megan 2 ; Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1 ; Trees, Sydney 1
SB: Conrads, Megan 1
Batting:
2B: Straight, Kylan 1 ; Thomas, Kennedy 1 ; Mickelson, Frankie 1
HR: Van Beek, Cassie 1 ; VanDerZwaag, Kaitlyn 1
RBI: Straight, Kylan 1 ; Thomas, Kennedy 1 ; Van Beek, Cassie 2 ; Cuevas, Damaris 1 ; VanDerZwaag, Kaitlyn 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Straight, Kylan 1 ; Thomas, Kennedy 2 ; Rodriguez, Mika 1 ; Van Beek, Cassie 1 ; Klenke, Danielle 1 ; VanDerZwaag, Kaitlyn 1 ; Mickelson, Frankie 1
