St. Cloud State
5-2
Pittsburg State University
8-5
Home run barrage leads to Sunday sweep
2/27/2022 2:19:00 PM | Softball
St. Cloud State blasts seven home runs in two games Sunday morning
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – When you're hot, you're hot. The St. Cloud State University softball team was definitely hot at the plate on the second day of the Washburn Invite. The Huskies blasted seven home runs over the course of two games, scoring a combined 23 runs on 25 hits to earn wins over Pittsburg State and Emporia State. With the sweep, St. Cloud State is now 6-2 overall.
GAME ONE: St. Cloud State (15) vs. Pittsburg State (6)
To say the Huskies got off to a solid start in the first game of the day may be a bit of an understatement. St. Cloud State led 4-0 after the top of the first inning thanks to the red-hot Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake). The senior catcher hit her third home run of the tournament, this time in grand slam fashion, to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. The Gorillas, though, had similar ideas in the bottom of the inning, hitting two solo blasts of their own to cut St. Cloud State's lead to 4-2 after one.
Of course, the Huskies proceeded to score even more runs the very next half inning, as Trees and Maggie Fitzgerald (Oak Lawn, Ill. / Richards) delivered RBI singles to bolster St. Cloud State's lead to 8-2. Though Pittsburg State would cut it to 8-6 in the bottom of the third, the Huskies offense was simply too hot to stop, as Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) blasted a solo homer in the fourth to regain a 9-6 advantage for St. Cloud State. This all happened before the six-run fifth inning where the Huskies scored six runs on six hits, including Fitzgerald's first collegiate home run, to secure a 15-6 lead.
Emma Eickhoff (Becker, Minn. / Becker) sent the Gorillas down in order in the bottom of the fifth, securing the first win of her collegiate career with two ground outs and a fly out. The first year right hander pitched five innings in the circle for St. Cloud State, giving up six runs, five earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts.
GAME TWO: St. Cloud State (8) vs. Emporia State (1)
The Huskies stayed hot in the second game of the day, though they didn't score right away in the first inning. St. Cloud State did, however, score in the second, as Fitzgerald blasted her second home run of the day to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning. Sophie Culhane (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) extended St. Cloud State's lead an inning later, hitting her first home run of the weekend to make it 4-0 Huskies in the top of the third.
Emporia State answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, cutting St. Cloud State's lead to 4-1. However, the Huskies weren't done hitting bombs, especially Fitzgerald. The first year hit her second home run of the game in the top of the fourth, regaining a four-run advantage for the Huskies at 5-1, before Alexandra Pinkowski (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake) scored on an error to make it 6-1 St. Cloud State after four.
Trinity Junker (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) held the Hornets hitters at bay, allowing the Huskies to score another run in the top of the fifth and one in the seventh to secure the 8-1 victory. McFarlane accounted for both runs, as she hit a solo home run in the fifth to make it 7-1 before scoring on an error in the seventh.
TOP HUSKIES
- Maggie Fitzgerald (Oak Lawn, Ill. / Richards) was the best hitter for the Huskies on Sunday, as she went 5-7 in the wins over Pittsburg State and Emporia State. She additionally tallied a combined eight RBI between the two games, including a career-high five in the win over the Gorillas.
- Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake)and Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) both went 3-4 at the plate in the win over Pittsburg State. Trees additionally recorded six RBI, the most by any Husky in a single-game this season.
- Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) hit .500 against Emporia State, going 1-2 with a career-high three runs scored in the victory.
- Trinity Junker (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) earned her fourth win of the season against the Hornets, surrendering just one run on four hits with eight strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will be back in action on Friday, March 4 as they travel to Florida for their annual spring break trip. St. Cloud State will face Southern Indiana and Missouri-St. Louis on its first day of the trip, opening with the Eagles at 9:00 a.m. CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eickhoff, Emma (1-1)
L: Atkin,Abby (4-3)
Batting:
HR: Trees, Sydney 1 ; McFarlane, Haley 1 ; Fitzgerald, Maggie 1
RBI: Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1 ; Culhane, Sophie 1 ; Trees, Sydney 6 ; McFarlane, Haley 1 ; Estrada, Jasmin 1 ; Fitzgerald, Maggie 5
SH: Bowlin, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vanden Langenberg, Raven 2 ; Bowlin, Brooke 2 ; Culhane, Sophie 1 ; Trees, Sydney 3 ; McFarlane, Haley 3 ; Estrada, Jasmin 1 ; Fitzgerald, Maggie 1 ; Quesnell, Tenley 1 ; Pinkowski, Alexandra 1
SB: Trees, Sydney 1
HBP: Vanden Langenberg, Raven 1
Batting:
2B: Driver,Sophia 1
HR: Bohle,Kylee 1 ; Griffith,Keelah 1
RBI: Bohle,Kylee 1 ; Griffith,Keelah 3 ; Szymanski,Madison 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lambert,Taylor 1 ; Bohle,Kylee 2 ; Griffith,Keelah 2 ; Driver,Sophia 1
SB: Lambert,Taylor 1
