ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Softball team concluded their fantastic regular season on Sunday by sweeping the Martin Luther College Knights in a doubleheader at Reynolds Field. The Eagles won game one 10-0 and game two 10-2, both games only needing five innings. The Eagles have finished the 2023 regular season at 22-10 overall and 16-5 in conference play. UNW has secured the third seed in next weekend's UMAC Postseason Tournament.
Game One
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) was brilliant in the circle and the Eagles' offense was firing on all cylinder in game one, scoring runs in every inning.
In the first inning, after Heffron pitched a one-two-three top half of the frame,
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) scored the game's opening run thanks to a single from
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist). The Eagles would grab two more runs in the bottom of the second thanks to another RBI single by Lundt.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) picked up an RBI in the frame as well when
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) scored on her groundball to take a 3-0 lead.
UNW poured the offense on the third and fourth innings.
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) came in to score when
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) hit a groundball. Lane grabbed another pair of RBIs by hitting a single to right centerfield that scored Gee and
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington). Terry drove in
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) in the fourth inning with a fielder's choice groundball, and Lane picked up two more RBIs with a ball she hit to right field. The Eagles would win the contest in five innings, 10-0.
Heffron's pitching performance was just as dominant as the Eagles' offensive performance. The right hander only gave up two hits in her five inning, complete game shutout. She also only walked one batter and struck out four.
The Eagles spent a lot of time on base in the contest picking up 12 hits and four walks in just five innings.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) only picked up one hit, but drove in a remarkable five runs.
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) had three runs batted in, and
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) picked up a pair of RBIs as well.
Game Two
The Eagles put together a very similar offensive performance in the second game of the doubleheader, once again scoring 10 runs and picking up 10 hits this time. However, in this game, the Eagles' offense was less spread out and was the result of three big innings their offense put together.
The first big offensive inning from UNW came in the first. Once again,
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) scored the game's opening run as
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) continued to drive in runs, using a sacrifice fly to centerfield this time.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) then hit a ball to right field that drove in
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo). UNW had an early 3-0 lead.
The Eagles put more runs on the board in the second.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) ripped a ball to left field and then showed off her blazing speed rounding first, then rounding second, and ending up at third base with an RBI triple that scored
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington). Terry would then score on a groundball by Gee. UNW had a 5-0 lead after two.
In the third and fourth innings, the Eagles' offense would go cold for the first time on Sunday afternoon. Out of the ten innings UNW played on the afternoon, these were the only two innings that they did not score runs. Martin Luther would cut into the deficit by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a two out, two run single.
UNW came up to bat in the home half of the fifth leading 5-2. The Eagles would score five runs in the frame to end the game.
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) came up with the bases loaded and hit an RBI single to score
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice). Then Oehlerking would get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home Beer. With the bases loaded,
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI) would pinch hit for the third time this week. In the Eagles' doubleheader against Minnesota-Morris earlier in the week, Dvorak had two identical pinch hitting opportunities. In those at bats, she hit a three run double, and a grand slam. Dvorak continued her incredible week by coming through off the bench with the bases loaded for a third time. She hit a double that scored Bentley and Keith, and then Lane would end the game with a sac fly that scored Oehlerking. The Eagles won the regular season finale, 10-2.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) picked up her 12
th win of the season in the circle. She went five innings and gave up four hits and two runs while striking out five batters.
Up Next
UNW will be the three seed in the UMAC Tournament this upcoming weekend. Bethany Lutheran won the regular season title and will host the tournament in Mankato as the one seed. Wisconsin-Superior edged out the Eagles by a game and will be the two seed, and Crown will round out the tournament as the four seed. The Eagles' first game against the #2 Yellowjackets will be in Mankato on Thursday, May 11
th at 1:00 PM. The tournament is double elimination with the winner earning the UMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
