CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team fell 10-0 and 9-0 to Winona State University Sat., April 8 at UMC Softball Field in Crookston, Minn. Minnesota Crookston struggled to hit on Saturday as they were limited to just three hits by the strong Winona State pitching.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 11-20-1 (1-8-1 NSIC) with a doubleheader loss to Winona State. The Warriors improved to 29-6 (10-0 NSIC) as they picked up the Saturday sweep. Winona state remains in first in the conference standings, while the U of M Crookston is in 14^th place in the conference. The Golden Eagles need just one win to tie their school record of 12 wins set during the 2004 season.

Game One
Paige Pitlick (Fr., RHP, Jordan, Minn.) would suffer the loss as she got the game one start for Minnesota Crookston. Pitlick went 3.2 innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Heather Cunningham (Jr., RHP, Jacksonville, Fla.) came on in relief and gave up three earned runs on six hits in 2.1 innings pitched.

The win for Winona State went to McKenna Larsen, who got the start and the victory. Larsen would shut out the Golden Eagles with just two hits and four strikeouts.

The Warriors started out the scoring in the first as Lani Van Zyl singled to plate Jamee Schleis.

Winona State added to their lead in third when Van Zyl doubled to plate Schleis and Mariah Schultz reached on a fielder's choice to drive in Allyson O'Herron to make it 3-0.

The Warriors had a big fourth inning in game one as they plated four runs to go up 7-0. Winona State looked to a single from Schultz to drive in McKenna Gutt to lead the way.

The Warriors used a two-run home run from Schleis and an RBI double from Van Zyl to cap a 10-0 win over Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles were limited to just two hits in the first game. Minnesota Crookston looked to hits from Victoria Bayliss (Jr., OF, West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Samantha Proctor (Fr., C, Champlin, Minn.).

Game Two
Bailey Braatz (Sr., RHP, Buffalo, Minn.) got the game two start and gave up six earned runs on 10 hits with one strikeout as she moved to 8-7 with the loss.
Jordyn Kleman earned the win for Winona State after shutting out the Golden Eagles with just one hit allowed.

The Warriors started their scoring in the second as Schultz belted one over the fence to make it 1-0.

Winona State plated four runs in the third led by an Alison Nowak two RBI single to drive in Shaye Witte and Schultz to make it 6-0.

The Warriors added three runs in the fifth to earn the run rule. Samantha McLean singled to plate Schultz. Katelyn Kolb would then reach on an error, allowing Nowak to score. The scoring would be rounded out as O'Herron scored on a ground out to make it 9-0.

The one hit for the U of M Crookston came from Hailey Fitzpatrick (Fr., 2B/SS, Becker, Minn.).

Kassidy Klaphake (Jr., RHP, Cold Spring, Minn.) also pitched for Minnesota Crookston. She would give up one earned run on two hits in one inning in the circle.

Minnesota Crookston will return to action against Upper Iowa University at 12 and 2 p.m. at UMC Softball Field Sun., April 9.