ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Softball Team turned in two impressive wins over the Crown College Polars. In the first game, UNW ended the game in five innings after a 9-spot in the second inning lifted them to a final of 12-3. The second game saw much of the same dominant Eagle offense, with a 20-3 five-inning game.
GAME ONE
The Eagles allowed three runs for Crown in the opening frame before shutting them out through the remainder of the game.
With a hole to dig out of, UNW forced the floodgates open for nine runs, two home runs, and the 9-3 lead, coming out of the second inning. An error, a trio of walks, and a fielder's choice loaded the bases and scored the first run. Back-to-back singles from Lani Schoper (Madison Lake, Minn./Mankato West) and Hannah Storey (Big Lake, Minn./Monticello) scored three runs. With the one-run lead, the Eagles started to have some fun, beginning with a massive, no-doubter, home run off the bat of Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine). Edwards hit the ball so hard that it landed on Lydia Avenue behind the field, scoring three runs. Bryn Anderson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) worked a walk before Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) stepped up to bat and delivered a line drive home run that narrowly cleared the fence to score the final two runs of the exciting inning. Edwards and Keith have gone back and forth for the most home runs on the team.
UNW threatened, but didn't score in the third. However, they dug in and tacked on three more runs in the fourth to secure the run-rule by the close of the visitor half of the fifth inning. Anderson singled and advanced to second on a fielder's choice. She then ran home on a double from Kate Van Ess (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg Casco). The last two runs of the game were scored with the help of a double from Hannah Lexvold (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake Area), driving both Van Ess and Trista Oberle (Hudson, Wis./Homeschool) home.
Emma Morrissey (Wasilla, Alas./Colony) pitched the opening four innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs, and was relieved in the fifth by Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian), who quickly ended the game with two strikeouts.
Edwards led the offense, going 2-2 with a home run and three RBI. Lexvold was also perfect at the plate, with three RBI and a double. Anderson and Van Ess were 1-2, while Keith was 1-3 with a two-RBI homer. Storey brought home two runs, and Schoper scored one.
GAME TWO
In the second game of the afternoon, the Eagles' bats only got hotter as they scored in every inning, launched five home runs, and scored 20 total runs through only five innings.
Schoper was hit by a pitch before advancing the remainder of the bases on a Storey single mixed with an error. Some chaos in the infield and at the plate, then allowed Storey and Edwards to lie in wait on second and third. Anderson sent Storey home with a single, and a hit from Keith gave Edwards the open door to score the team's third run. With Van Ess and Anderson on the base paths, Kate Trump (Faribault, Minn/Bethlehem Academy) joined the home run party with a three-RBI bomb to go up 6-0 in the first frame.
Storey scored again in the bottom of the second inning after hitting a double and running home on Edwards' single. Crown responded with three runs in the top of the third to come within four.
UNW then scored eight runs in the bottom of the third, with three homers in the frame. Van Ess scored the only run of the inning outside of a home run to open the scoring. Schoper, for the second time in her UNW career, went yard to score two runs. Storey singled and snuck her way to third before another deep ball from Edwards sent her home. Edwards' second homer of the day cleared the same part of the left field wall as her first home run. Also, throwing it back to game one, with Anderson on base, Keith fired a shot over the wall to score two. Both Edwards and Keith are leading the UMAC with their six home runs apiece. This dinger marks the fourth game in a row that Keith has tallied a home run, proving her well-deserved top spot in the record books in the HR category.
Heading into the final offensive inning for UNW, with the 15-3 advantage, several varsity reserve players entered the game to score some more runs. Lexvold and Emma Westrate (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) singled before Jenna Nusbaum (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) advanced the bases, scoring Lexvold. Abby Washburn's (Prosper, Tex./Homeschool) hit moved the bases once more to put Westrate in scoring position. Morrissey hit a single to score Westrate and put runners on second and third. Maddy Smith (Sartell, Minn./Sartell) took credit for the final three runs with two outs and no fear; the freshman blasted an exclamation point home run.
Edwards was sharp again with 2-3 batting and three RBI on her second HR of the day. Anderson and Storey were a perfect 3-3 with one RBI each. Westrate and Morrissey were 1-1, along with Smith and her three RBI. Trump and Keith also added three RBI, Schoper and Lexvold tallied two, and Nusbaum and Morrissey brought home one.
Addisyn Hansen (Tea, S.D./Tea Area) earned the start in the circle for the Eagles and took home the win with two strikeouts over three innings, and only four hits. Strubbe relieved for the final two innings, also striking out two batters, allowing just two hits.
UNW is now an undefeated 5-0 in conference play, with a non-conference matchup against UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday at home, starting at 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM.
