Head Softball coach Don Stopa has to be elated at how his team was able to end their trip to Arizona winning their last five games in a row after starting just 1-5 in Tucson. The Golden Eagles were able to close out the tournament beating Crown College 11-1 and Carleton College 5-0. This marked the second time in the tournament that UMC was able to hold the opposing team scoreless, a task that has only been done by the Golden Eagles once in the last three years. Today's success can be attributed to the exceptional performance in the circle from Bailey Braatz (Sr., P/DP, Buffalo, Minn) and Heather Cunningham (So., P, Jacksonville, Fla) only giving up a total of nine hits, one run, and only one error on the day. With the two wins, UMC surpasses their win total of last year with a record of 6-14.

In game one, the Golden Eagles were able to find success in all facets of the game. As a team, UMC was able to hit .535 in the game and only gave up one run on four hits.

Crown College would get on the board first as they scored off of a RBI single in the first. That would be as good as it would get for Crown as they were held scoreless for the rest of the game. The Golden Eagles entered the top of the second inning down a run but would leave the frame with a lead of 2-1 after a RBI single from Maycee Trujillo (Fr., OF, Sioux Falls, S.D.) followed by a Trujillo score of her own. Crown would knock on the door in the third but nothing would come of it after a lineout to centerfield.

Minnesota Crookston would have an electrifying third inning to gain a big advantage scoring five runs. Allison Foley (Sr., SS, Lockport, Ill) would hit her ninth home run of her career to put her team up 4-2. Alexis Khoshaba (Sr., OF, Richmond, British Columbia) would follow suit hitting her 17^th homerun bringing in Gabby Antolak (So., C/3B, Zimmerman, Minn) in the process. The Golden Eagles would conclude the inning with a Maggie Morales (Fr., OF, Tucson, Ariz) score and a 7-1 lead.

 UMC would have another action filled inning in the fifth frame highlighted by a Morgan Duda (Fr., IF, Clinton Township, Mich) homerun. The Eagles would leave the fifth inning up 11-1 which would ultimately be the ending result of the game.

Although being a low scoring affair for the Eagles standards throughout their win streak, Cunningham's well improved pitching was able to lead UMC to a 5-0 victory over the Carleton Knights.

Both teams would be inefficient in the first inning with both teams producing no runs.

Khoshaba would be able to get her team on the board in the second frame on an unearned run putting UMC up 1-0. The Golden Eagles would exploit an error made by the Knights on a passed ball resulting in a score from Victoria Bayliss (So., 2B/OF/P, West Bloomfield, Mich) to put UMC up by two.

The fifth inning would feature the three runs that would secure the victory for the Golden Eagles. Bayliss would score on a Foley single. Foley would then score on sacrifice hit to centerfield by Khoshaba, and Brooke Timmins (Sr., C, Magnolia, Texas) doubled bringing in the final two runs. In the coming innings, the Eagles would shield their lead only giving up four hits to conclude a 5-0 win.

In the midst of Minnesota Crookston's five game win streak, we would see the Golden Eagles developing defense, better-quality pitching, and a captivating offense showcased. UMC was able to accrue a total of 49 runs which would be the most in any five game stint since the 2011-2012 season. UMC's five game win streak also marks the longest win streak in the last five years. Minnesota Crookston came away from Arizona a better team and will look to continue their momentum moving into conference play.

UMC will have a relatively quick turnaround as they open up conference play on the road against Bemidji State University March 22, 2016 at 2:00 PM.