Thursday, March 7
Auburndale, Fla.
9:00 A.M. CT
St. Cloud State
13-5
1
vs
2
Northwood (Mich.)
6-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
St. Cloud State
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
0
Northwood
0
0
0
1
1
0
X
2
8
2
Photo by: Justyce Porter
St. Cloud State Softball Splits Thursday Matchups in Florida
3/7/2024 8:05:00 PM | Softball
Huskies fall to Northwood (Mich.), bounce back against Thomas More (Ky.)
AUBURNDALE, Fla. – St. Cloud State Softball (14-5, 0-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) had its five-game winning streak snapped by Northwood (Mich.) (6-4, 0-0 Great Midwest Athletic Conference) Thursday morning before bouncing back and defeating Thomas More (Ky.) (4-14, 0-0 GMAC) in the afternoon of its second to last day in Florida at THE Spring Games. SCSU fell to the Timberwolves, 2-1 before taking down the Saints, 8-3.
Freshman outfielder Kori Needham (Milan, Ill.) led the Huskies on offense, going 3-6 with one run and two stolen bases. Freshman catcher Bethany Weiss (Forest Lake, Minn.) went 2-6, with one home run and two RBI. Redshirt freshman third baseman Grace Frechette (Forest Lake, Minn.) hit a home run, driving in three runs.
GAME ONE ST. CLOUD STATE 1, NORTHWOOD 2
St. Cloud State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning and held Northwood scoreless through 3.1 innings, before the Timberwolves tied the game at one after an RBI single.
Northwood took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning after hitting another RBI single. SCSU went three up, three down in the sixth and only managed one base runner in the seventh, unable to take the lead back.
Northwood's starting pitcher, Brynn Polega tossed a complete game and only allowed three hits. The run she allowed was unearned and she tallied five strikeouts to just one walk.
Junior right handed pitcher Emma Eickhoff (Becker, Minn.) provided a quality start, pitching 4.1 innings only allowing two runs on six hits. She struck three batters out and didn't issue a walk. Sophomore right handed pitcher Justyce Porter (Kent, Wash.) was solid in relief of Eickhoff, only allowing 2 hits in 1.2 innings, keeping NU from putting any more runs on the board.
Top Huskies
The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning and had seen just two hits before Thomas More broke through in the top half of the inning, scoring three runs. The Huskies used four-run bottom half to take the lead shortly after falling behind. Weiss hit an RBI single, and Frechette hit a three-run home run during the subsequent at bat to push SCSU to a 4-3 lead.
St. Cloud State doubled its score in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to take a decisive 8-3 late game lead. Weiss opened the inning with a solo blast, Holzhueter later scored on a wild pitch and fifth-year outfielder/first baseman Holly Weinberger (Waconia, Minn.) hit a two-run double to give the Huskies its final insurance runs.
Junior right handed pitcher Mckenna Stallings (Milton Freewater, Ore.) started the game, pitching 6.0 innings. She gave up three runs on six hits with one strikeout. Porter pitched the final inning and got two groundouts before striking out the final batter of the game.
Top Huskies
The Huskies cap off their trip to the Sunshine State Friday against Quincy (Ill.) (12:30 p.m. CT) and Clarion (Pa.) (3 p.m. CT). Live coverage options can be found on the SCSU Softball schedule page.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Softball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Freshman outfielder Kori Needham (Milan, Ill.) led the Huskies on offense, going 3-6 with one run and two stolen bases. Freshman catcher Bethany Weiss (Forest Lake, Minn.) went 2-6, with one home run and two RBI. Redshirt freshman third baseman Grace Frechette (Forest Lake, Minn.) hit a home run, driving in three runs.
GAME ONE ST. CLOUD STATE 1, NORTHWOOD 2
St. Cloud State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning and held Northwood scoreless through 3.1 innings, before the Timberwolves tied the game at one after an RBI single.
Northwood took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning after hitting another RBI single. SCSU went three up, three down in the sixth and only managed one base runner in the seventh, unable to take the lead back.
Northwood's starting pitcher, Brynn Polega tossed a complete game and only allowed three hits. The run she allowed was unearned and she tallied five strikeouts to just one walk.
Junior right handed pitcher Emma Eickhoff (Becker, Minn.) provided a quality start, pitching 4.1 innings only allowing two runs on six hits. She struck three batters out and didn't issue a walk. Sophomore right handed pitcher Justyce Porter (Kent, Wash.) was solid in relief of Eickhoff, only allowing 2 hits in 1.2 innings, keeping NU from putting any more runs on the board.
Top Huskies
- Senior second baseman Lydia Krueger (Appleton, Wis.) - 1-2, 2 HBP, SB
- Junior catcher/outfielder Reese Holzhueter (Shakopee, Minn.) - 1-4, R, 2 SB
- Eickhoff (L, 4-2) - 4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 SO
- Porter - 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R
- Needham - 1-3
- Junior corner infielder Maggie Fitzgerald (Oak Lawn, Ill.) – RBI
- After the loss, SCSU trails the all-time series against Northwood, 7-4.
- Krueger recorded her 10th hit if the season and 60th of her career. She has been hit by 14 pitches in just 18 games played and is on pace to set a new single season school record and career school record.
- Holzhueter posted her first multi-steal game of her career and has set a new career season high for stolen bases already, with six. She tallied her 100th career hit.
- Eickhoff surpassed 20 strikeouts for the season and 150 for her career.
- Needham made her second start of the season.
- Fitzgerald drove in her 20th run of the season and 65th of her career. She has posted 20+ RBI in each of her three seasons and is on pace to set a new single season best this year.
The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning and had seen just two hits before Thomas More broke through in the top half of the inning, scoring three runs. The Huskies used four-run bottom half to take the lead shortly after falling behind. Weiss hit an RBI single, and Frechette hit a three-run home run during the subsequent at bat to push SCSU to a 4-3 lead.
St. Cloud State doubled its score in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to take a decisive 8-3 late game lead. Weiss opened the inning with a solo blast, Holzhueter later scored on a wild pitch and fifth-year outfielder/first baseman Holly Weinberger (Waconia, Minn.) hit a two-run double to give the Huskies its final insurance runs.
Junior right handed pitcher Mckenna Stallings (Milton Freewater, Ore.) started the game, pitching 6.0 innings. She gave up three runs on six hits with one strikeout. Porter pitched the final inning and got two groundouts before striking out the final batter of the game.
Top Huskies
- Weiss - 2-3, HR, 2 RBI
- Weinberger - 2-4, 2 RBI, 2B
- Frechette - 1-3, HR, 3 RBI
- Stallings (W, 3-0) - 6 H, 3 R, 1 SO
- Needham - 2-3, 2 SB
- Holzhueter - 2-4
- After the win, SCSU is now 2-0 all-time against Thomas More, with both wins coming this week.
- Weiss posted her fifth multi-hit game in her 14th game. She hit her third home run of the season and scored her 10th run.
- Weinberger tallied her seventh multi-hit game of the season. She is just three hits shy of 200 for her career.
- Frechette hit her fifth home run of the season and fourth in the last seven games. She has four games this season with 3+ RBI including three of the last four.
- Stallings tossed her longest outing (6.0 innings) as a Husky and remained perfect on the season (3-0).
- Needham posted her first multi-hit game of her collegiate career in her third start if the season (second consecutive). She also posted her first game with multiple stolen bases.
- Holzhueter recorded her sixth multi-hit game of the season.
The Huskies cap off their trip to the Sunshine State Friday against Quincy (Ill.) (12:30 p.m. CT) and Clarion (Pa.) (3 p.m. CT). Live coverage options can be found on the SCSU Softball schedule page.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Softball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: B. Polega (3-1)
L: Eickhoff, Emma (4-2)
Batting:
RBI: Fitzgerald, Maggie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holzhueter, Reese 1
SB: Holzhueter, Reese 2 ; Krueger, Lydia 1
HBP: Krueger, Lydia 2
Batting:
RBI: D. Gale 1 ; G. Fantin 1
SH: A. Ziel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: A. Lundquist 1 ; M. Jordan 1
HBP: B. Steimel 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP/UTL
/ Softball
1B/3B
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballC/OF
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF/1B
/ Softball
C/1B
/ SoftballA Day with the Huskies | SCSU Baseball and Softball welcomes Miracle League
Friday, August 25
What's Good, Huskies? | S1E3 | Jasmin Estrada & Raven Vanden Langenberg
Friday, August 25
Mitch Roberts Preseason Interview | 2023
Friday, February 10
SCSU Softball vs Crookston (Doubleheader)
Tuesday, April 12
