ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – After a close loss in game one of its series at Crown College on Friday, the University of Northwestern Softball team came out hungry for Saturday's doubleheader.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) pitched a complete-game gem in a 5-0 victory in Saturday's opener, before the Eagles held on to win a 9-8 shootout in game two
Game One
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) set the tone from the jump in game one of the day by leading off the game with a triple.
Lani Schoper (Madison Lake, Minn./Mankato West) singled Lane home to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead and eventually found herself on third base, but was stranded there to end the inning.
That first run proved to be all the help
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) needed, as the Eagles' pitcher took a perfect game into the fourth inning and didn't surrender a run the entire game. However, in the top of the fourth, her teammates decided to give her a little more insurance.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) led off the inning with a double and was pinch ran for by
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice). A
Kate Trump (Faribault, Minn/Bethlehem Academy) single moved Henning to third, and the senior would score on a
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) sacrifice fly. Northwestern loaded the bases with one out after consecutive singles by Mikayle Gee and
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine), but the inning ended with them still full and the score 2-0.
As Strubbe continued to deal, UNW's bats were at their best in the top of the seventh inning. Lane led off with a double, and after Schoper walked, the pair moved into scoring position as the result of a sacrifice bunt by
Bryn Anderson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson). They came around to score via an error to make the score 4-0, then Iverson singled
Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) home to make it 5-0. The Polars were finally able to get their first runner into scoring position in the bottom half, and loaded the bases with one out, but Strubbe shut them down to preserve the complete-game shutout.
Strubbe gave up just four hits in her 7.0 innings and struck out seven. Lane went 2-4 at the plate with a double, a triple and two runs scored, while Schoper went 2-3 with and RBI. Iverson was 2-4 with a double and an RBI, and Beer produced the other RBI. Gee turned in a 2-4 day at the plate as well.
Game Two
The regular season finale turned out to be much closer and much higher-scoring than the game that preceded it. Northwestern loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning with two outs, but was unable to get any across. Crown took advantage, putting up a two-spot in the bottom half to take an early lead. In the top of the second,
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) got the Eagles on the board after singling, stealing second, and scoring on a passed ball.
The Polars were able to get the run back in the bottom of the second, but UNW was able to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the third inning thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles by
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) and
Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover), Northwestern's starting pitcher, after
Lani Schoper (Madison Lake, Minn./Mankato West) led off the inning with a single. True to form, Crown had another answer in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, 4-3.
The top of the fifth was when the Eagles put their stamp on the game. Singles by Gee and
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine), plus Lane being hit by a pitch, loaded the bases with nobody out. After a lineout,
Bryn Anderson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) was hit by a pitch, which tied the game at four.
Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) then dug in and blasted her first-career grand slam to give UNW its first lead of the game at 8-4. The four-bagger also tied Edwards with
Kate Trump (Faribault, Minn/Bethlehem Academy) for the team-lead in homers this season (5). Northwestern wasn't done either, as consecutive singles from Bottineau,
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and Gee extended the lead to 9-4.
The Polars once again responded well to the adversity, scoring three runs off of
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) in the bottom of the fifth to get back within striking distance at 9-7. Iverson hit a one-out double in the top of the sixth to pose a threat, but the Eagles were unable to bring her around. Crown had one more charge left, scoring a run and getting two on in the bottom of the seventh, but
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian), who had relieved Strubbe in the fifth inning, slammed the door shut to secure the 9-8 victory and the series win.
Iverson led the bats with a 2-4 day that included two doubles and an RBI, while Gee went 3-4 with an RBI herself. Bottineau drove in a run while going 2-3 at the plate, and Edwards' grand slam gave her four RBI. Strubbe was credited with the win on the mound, giving her 14 for the season. The trio of Eagles' pitchers combined for six strikeouts in the game.
Up Next
UNW (26-14, 13-5 UMAC) has earned the No. 3 seed in the UMAC Softball Tournament, which begins Thursday, May 8
th in Mankato. The Eagles will take on second-seeded UW-Superior in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday at 2:00 PM. All tournament games will be broadcast on the UMAC Sports Network.
