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The Warriors defeated Central Missouri 2-1 on Thursday in the first round and will now play Southwest Minnesota State at 12:30 p.m. today.
This will be the fifth time those two teams meet up. The first two meetings went to SWMS during the regular season. The next two, in the conference tournament, went to WSU.
“There won’t be much mystery between the two of us,” WSU coach Greg Jones said.
The difference in WSU’s win over Central turned out to be Molly Bjelland’s RBI triple in the fourth inning of a scoreless game.
“She’s had a big year for us, obviously,” Jones said of his cleanup hitter. “That’s a pretty big stage for a kid that young to come through.”
Bjelland’s hit went to the gap in right-center field, scoring Amanda Wilhelm.
As Bjelland was headed for third, Central’s shortstop was getting the relay from the outfield.
“Their shortstop had the cut,” Jones explained. “She was going to throw home, but everyone was yelling, ‘Three,’ and she just spiked the ball straight down. We just kept Molly going on the play.”
The second time through the order proved to be the difference for WSU (36-13).
Central pitcher Megan Leonard had seven of her 10 strikeouts the first time through the order.
“She absolutely mowed us down early,” Jones said. “We never played Central ever. She was exactly what the scouting report said. We just couldn’t get on (her pitches) at all.
“Amanda and Molly kind of solved her. The best part was they put their hits together to score the runs.”
Wilhelm and teammate Laura Wright both finished 2-for-3.
Defensively, WSU senior pitcher Kristen Fossell didn’t make things easy on herself.
In four of the first five innings, Fossell had runners in scoring position, including two runners on with less than two outs in the first two innings.
“I think we won the game in the first two innings,” Jones said. “The fact that we could wiggle off the hook without giving up a run was big.
“I think Kristen was trying to get a feel for the mound and she settled down nicely after those first two innings.”
Fossell really settled down after she gave up a solo home run to Kherri-Dean Hummer in the sixth inning to pull Central within 2-1.
Nobody got on base after that. Fossell retired the next six batters to hold onto the win. She finished with four strikeouts and four walks.
