Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Sunday, May 04, 2008
Warriors advance at NSIC tourney with pair of wins
MARSHALL, Minn. — A couple of four-run innings keyed Winona State University’s softball team to a pair of wins on the opening day of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament.
The second-seeded Warriors scored four runs in the first inning of the their opener and beat Minnesota State-Moorhead 6-1.
WSU put together a four-run fifth inning of the second game, needing it to beat Wayne State (Neb.) 4-2.
The Warriors (33-13) have won nine of their past 10 games and will face top-seeded Southwest Minnesota State at noon today in the double-elimination tournament.
The loser will fall into the consolation bracket and have to win another game to reach the championship game, which is set for 4 p.m. A final game is set for 6 p.m. if necessary.
The winner of the NSIC tournament earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II North Central Region tournament, which is set for May 8-11 in Emporia, Kan.
WSU’s big inning against Wayne State came after the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
The Warriors did all the damage with two outs, starting the rally with a single by Callie Givens.
Terra Halron followed with an RBI double and scored on Amanda Wilhelm’s single to tie the game.
Singles by Chelsea Rosenow and Mollie Bjelland loaded the bases for Jenny Wilmes, who singled in two runs for the 4-2 lead.
Wilmes had three hits to lead the Warriors, who had six of their nine hits in the fifth inning.
Chelsey Ewing picked up the win for WSU. She allowed six hits and two runs and struck out three in the complete game.
The Warriors scored four runs on just one hit in the first inning against MSU-Moorhead. Halron, Rosenow and Wilhelm walked to start the game and all scored on a double by Bjelland.
Kristen Fossell took care of the rest, limiting the Dragons to three hits and one run in the complete-game win. She walked one and struck out 12.
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