Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Game 1 - Southwest Minnesota State 2 Wayne State 0

Game 2 - Wayne State 5 Southwest Minnesota State 4

            Southwest Minnesota State maintained a hold of first place in the NSIC with a split against Wayne State in NSIC softball Wednesday afternoon in Marshall, Minnesota.  The host Mustangs won the opener 2-0 with the Wildcats using a four-run fifth inning to rally for a 5-4 win in the second game.  SMSU maintains a hold of first place in the NSIC at 17-3 in the league and 25-17 overall while Wayne State remains second in the NSIC at 15-4 in league play and 32-15 overall.

            In the first game, SMSU pitcher Amanda Johnson held WSC to just two hits as the Mustangs pulled out a 2-0 win.  The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when the Mustangs came up with three of their five hits and scored both runs off Wildcat starter Katie Goetzinger, who struck out 12 batters in a losing effort.

            The lone hits for WSC in the first game were a third inning single by Alyssa Kirsch and a seventh inning single by Sam Earleywine.  Goetzinger (23-9) was tagged with the pitching loss, allowing just two runs on five hits with 12 strikeouts and two walks.

            The second game saw erupt for four runs on six hits in the fifth inning to rally for a 5-4 win over Southwest Minnesota State.  With WSC trailing 4-1 entering the fifth inning, Alyssa Kirsch started the rally with a double.  Liz Hullinger then singled to left field and Amy Sandstrom then doubled to right scoring Kirsch.  Blaire Kuhl then came through with a two-run single to left center, scoring Hullinger and Sandstrom to tie the score at 4-4.  Sam Earleywine then singled and Kuhl scored on an error by Southwest Minnesota State right fielder Amanda Burkhart to score the eventual game-winning run.

            WSC finished the game with nine hits to six for SMSU.  Kuhl finished 2 for 3 with three RBI's while Earleywine was 2 for 3.  Sandstrom was 1 for 3 with two runs scored and a double while Katie Goetzinger, Alyssa Kirsch, Kiley Peterson and Liz Hullinger each added hits for the Wildcats.

            Amber Baird (9-6) worked five innings to earn the win with Goetzinger pitching the final two innings to get her third save of the season.  Baird allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts while Goetzinger struck out six batters in the final two innings, allowing one hit. 

            Wayne State will be at home this weekend, hosting Concordia, St. Paul Saturday and St. Cloud State Sunday for NSIC doubleheaders starting at noon both days.