Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Sunday, May 11, 2008
WSU softball team reaches regional championship
EMPORIA, Kan. — The Winona State University softball team has never played for a trip to the Division II College World Series, but it will beginning at 10 a.m. today.
The road is tough, and, after Saturday, it got a little tougher for the Warriors.
One heart-breaking hit sent WSU into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination North Central Regional Tournament.
In a scoreless game, Jennifer Dace nailed a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to give top-seeded Emporia State a 2-0 win over Winona State in the semifinal.
The Warriors came back to defeat Minnesota State 3-0 to earn the rematch with Emporia today with a trip to Houston and the eight-team College World Series on the line.
The Warriors will have to defeat Emporia State twice to get there. First at 10 a.m., and, if they win, again at 12:15 p.m.
Though WSU was held to one hit by Emporia’s Samantha Sheeley on Saturday, she isn’t unbeatable.
On March 15, WSU defeated Sheeley and the Hornets 5-2. Sheeley gave up seven hits, including home runs from Terra Halron and Callie Givens. In that game, Sheeley struck out 10 and walked two.
“I don’t think she is unhittable, but she was today,” WSU coach Greg Jones said of Sheeley, who struck out 11, walked two and hit two. “She is the best pitcher we’ve faced all year. She really mixed it up today.
“I think we can beat her. We’ve beat her before. We had chances today. She had a couple of walks and hit a couple, but it comes down to the point where we didn’t get the big hit, and that’s what has carried us this far.”
Not to be outdone by Sheeley, Winona State senior Kristen Fossell was almost as good. She gave up just two hits through the first five innings and started the sixth with a strikeout before Jessie Wiard reached on a bunt single.
Fossell got the second out on a flyout, before Dace came with the homer over the wall in left field.
“It was tough,” Jones said of the loss. “We played toe to toe with them. Kristen threw a good pitch, (Dace) just hit it extremely well. It was a line drive to the left fielder, but it kept climbing.”
Fossell finished with three strikeouts and zero walks. She gave up five hits. Annie Stuedemann had the only hit for WSU.
In the second game, Fossell finessed her way to a win with a three-hitter. She had zero strikeouts and one walk.
WSU was up 1-0 heading into the fourth when Jenny Wilmes knocked in two with a single.
The game was far from over, however, as Minnesota State loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Fossell got out of it with a short fly to the shortstop.
“That was the first time all year Fossell has thrown two games in one day,” Jones said.
The best finish prior to this year’s tournament for Winona State had been third place in 2005. WSU is guaranteed second place at least. Emporia finished second in the region last year and was second in the country in 2006.
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