Game 1 - Wayne State 11 Upper Iowa 2
Game 2 - Wayne State 8 Upper Iowa 5 (8 inn.)
Senior second baseman Blaire Kuhl went 4 for 8 with a homer and seven RBI's to help the Wayne State College softball team sweep Upper Iowa 11-2 and 8-5 in eight innings in a Northern Sun Conference doubleheader played in Fayette, Iowa Thursday afternoon. With the two wins, the Wildcats remain in second place in the NSIC standings at 20-4 in league play and 32-13 overall while Upper Iowa slips to 6-39 on the season and 2-20 in the NSIC.
The first game saw Jennifer Radley, Blaire Kuhl and Katie Goetzinger connect for home runs as the Wildcats cruised to an 11-2 five inning win over the Peacocks. WSC opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single by Kuhl to take a 1-0 lead. UIU struck for two runs in the bottom of the first as Hannah Jones connected on a two-run homer off Wildcat starter Katie Goetzinger giving the Peacocks the lead. WSC regained the lead in the third inning with two runs as Sam Earleywine walked and scored on a Radley two-run homer, her school record 13th homer of the season, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.
WSC put the game away with a six-run fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of Kuhl. Goetzinger added a solo shot while Radley contributed a run-scoring single for big hits in the inning. The 'Cats added two more runs in the fifth inning to make the final score 11-2. Aeriell Earleywine had a two-run double that scored Brittany Greenwood (walked) and Kassie Nurton (singled).
Eight different players accounted for 10 WSC hits in the win. Radley finished 2 for 3 with three RBI's and two runs scored while Kuhl was 2 for 4 with a homer and four RBI's to lead the Wildcats at the plate. Goetzinger pitched four innings to earn the win, improving to 24-6 on the season. She gave up two runs on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Junior Natalie Ruechel pitched the final inning and retired all three batters with one strikeout.
The second game saw Wayne State having to work overtime as the Wildcats registered an 8-5 win in eight innings over the Peacocks. WSC took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Upper Iowa reeled off four runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. The Wildcats then regained momentum scoring three runs to grab the 8-5 win.
A Dani Sandel solo homer in the first inning opened the scoring for the Wildcats. WSC took a 2-0 lead in the third when Kuhl's single down the left field line scored Sandel, who singled earlier in the inning. Upper Iowa used a rare Wildcat error and a single from Kayla Bergman to trim the Wildcat lead to 2-1. In the fifth inning, WSC took a 4-1 lead on a run-scoring single by Kuhl and a RBI double by Goetzinger. A pinch-hit RBI double by Kristen Martinson scored Radley who singled earlier giving the Wildcats a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning.
Upper Iowa used four hits and one WSC error to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh off Wildcat reliever Natalie Ruechel to even the score at 5-5. But the Wildcats responded with three runs in the top of the eighth inning to complete the sweep with an 8-5 win. Aeriell Earleywine opened the inning with a single, then Dani Sandel reached base on a sacrifice bunt and fielding error by Upper Iowa first baseman Erin Van Praag. A walk to Sam Earleywine loaded the bases for Radley, who also walked to score Aeriell Earleywine with the first run of the inning. Kuhl and Goetzinger then recorded back to back sacrifice flies giving WSC two more insurance runs. Goetzinger came back into the game and retired the Peacocks in the bottom of the eighth to seal the 8-5 win.
WSC had 12 hits in the game to seven for Upper Iowa. Sandel extended her hitting streak to 10 games going 2 for 4 with a homer and three runs scored while Kuhl finished 2 for 4 with three RBI's. Aeriell Earleywine also had two hits while Radley's single in the seventh inning pushed her season-high hitting streak to 11 games. Goetzinger pitched 7 1/3 innings to get the win, moving to 25-6 on the season. She allowed just three hits and one run (unearned) with eight strikeouts and two walks. Ruechel worked 2/3 of an inning in the seventh and was charged with four runs (one earned) on four hits with two strikeouts.
Wayne State will be at home on Saturday afternoon hosting NSIC leader and #10 Augustana in a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at the Pete Chapman Softball Complex in Wayne.
