ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Softball team was at home for the first time in the 2023 season and the team treated their home fans to an incredible display of softball. UNW put up 40 combined runs in two games in their return to Reynolds Field defeating North Central 18-1 and 22-0.
Game One
Having not played a game in over a month (March 9
th) it would have been reasonable to think that there would be some rust that would need to be shaken off of the Eagles' bats. That was not the case.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) set the tone for the double header right away in the first inning when she laced a ball to right field. The ball skipped by the right fielder and rolled all the way to wall. Lane was ready to run as she rounded first, rounded second, rounded third, and made her way all the way home for her first homerun of the season. It was an inside the park solo shot that gave the Eagles an early 1-0 lead. Later in the inning
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) would score thanks to an RBI single from
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) and UNW led 2-0 after an inning.
Everybody got involved in the action in the second inning. The Eagles would put up a remarkable 13 runs in the inning to take a comfortable 15-0 lead after two innings.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) set the tone for the inning by hitting a leadoff triple and then scored thanks to a
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) double.
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) would single home Oehlerking.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would score on an RBI single from
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian).
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) would drive in Gee.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) would single home Lane and then would score herself on a double from
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist). Lundt would score on Oehlerking's second RBI hit of the inning.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) would hit an RBI single to score
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock). Beer and Oehlerking would score when
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) would hit an inside the park homerun of her own. She laced a ball to right centerfield that got all the way to the wall as she sped around the bases. Summers would drive in Lane. Iverson drove in Summers and the inning would end.
UNW added three more runs in the third inning thanks to an
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) RBI single, a ball hit to center field by
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice), and a
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI) ground ball to third base.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was fantastic as the starting pitcher for the Eagles. She would take a no hitter into the fourth inning when North Central would pick up their first hit and their first run on the same swing. The Rams got a solo homerun to center field to score their only run of the game. Heffron would pick up third win of the season as she went five innings only giving up two hits and one run while picking up nine strikeouts. UNW held on to win 18-1.
Game Two
The Eagles picked up right where they left off in the second and final game of the doubleheader.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) was the pitcher for UNW and she pitched a scoreless top half of the first. UNW would continue the offensive onslaught they started in the first game and would continue it right away in game two by scoring 10 runs in the opening frame.
The Eagles played small ball to score their first run of the game.
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) was on third base as
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was on first. Lane broke for second base on the pitch and on the throw down, Gee broke for home. Lane was safe at second, Gee was safe at home for the first run of the game, and Lane advanced to third on the throw home.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) would pick up an RBI by hitting a double to left field to score Lane.
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI) drove in Iverson with a double of her own. Dvorak scored on a
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) single.
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) would deliver a big swing by hitting a two run homerun of the left field fence for her second homerun of the young season. Gee, Lane, and Iverson would all collect more RBI hits before the first inning was over.
The Eagles would close out the game by scoring six runs each in the second and third innings to bring the game to its final score of 22-0.
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake),
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian),
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo),
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI),
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall), and
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) would all pick up RBI hits to extend the Eagle lead in the second and third innings.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) picked up her fourth win of the season by pitching a complete game shutout in the circle. The freshman only gave up three hits and one walk while striking out five in the contest.
Up Next
After starting the UMAC season 2-0, the Eagles are back in action with another UMAC doubleheader tomorrow. UNW travels to Northland for two games with the Lumberjills. First pitch of game one is at 3:30 PM.
