Auburndale, Fla. – Minnesota Crookston softball rallied for three runs in game one to defeat the College of Staten Island, 3-2 and fell in game two in five innings to Southern New Hampshire University, 13-2.
The Golden Eagles move to 3-15 on the season with the split on Wednesday.
Game One
The game, which was originally supposed to start at around 10 A.M., would be pushed back to a 2 P.M., start on Wednesday due to rain in the area on Tuesday night.
The game would take two innings to see a run, but the Dolphins would strike first with an Aileen Balderas two-run shot for a 2-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles would trail heading into the top of the sixth, but they would get an inning they needed.
Rayna French (Fr., C, La Salle, Manitoba) would get the inning started with a single up the middle.
Irelyn Spencer (R-Fr., IF, Rapid City, S.D.) would fly out and
Haley Koch (Jr., C, Mondamin, Iowa) would line out sharply to left.
Brittney Mengel (Jr., OF, Sullivan, Wis.) would single in pinch-hitting duty. The Golden Eagles would get on the board with an RBI double from
Maddie Shwaluk (Sr., OF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba), cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Paige Shwaluk (Sr., MIF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba) would walk and
Whitnee Curry (Jr., MIF/OF, Lincoln, Neb.) would drive in two more with a base knock up the middle for a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Dolphins would have one out when Kassidy Latour would drive the ball to centerfield, only for
Shaelyn Grant (Sr., C/OF, Grand Junction, Colo.) to leap over the fence and rob Latour of the game tying home run, preserving the 3-2 win for the maroon and gold.
The Golden Eagles finished with seven hits, led by a 3-3 day from Curry. The Golden Eagles also drew seven walks in the game.
For the second straight day,
Thayda Houser (Sr., P, Seymour, Iowa) was fantastic, earning the win, while giving up just two runs on four hits, while going the distance.
Game Two
Game two would not go the Golden Eagles way early.
The Penmen would strike for a pair of runs in the first inning, using a Golden Eagle error to strike first.
SNHU would score six more in the fourth inning, including the first of two grand slams from Abby Lineman, who also finished with nine RBI.
Needing an answer, the Golden Eagles would do just that. The Golden Eagles would load the bases with no one out and
Emerson Thompson (R-So., C, Lincoln, Neb.) would come through with an RBI single through the left side, cutting the lead to 8-1. The Golden Eagles would get another run with the bases loaded, making it an 8-2 game, but that is all they would get.
The Penmen would get five more runs in the top of the fifth, putting the run rule into effect, knocking off the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles finished with four hits in the game, with one apiece coming from
Paige Shwaluk, French, Mengel and Thompson.
Evie Stuck (Jr., P, Papillion, Neb.) picked up the loss, while giving up six runs, four of which were earned, on seven hits in three innings.
What's Next
The Golden Eagles are set for two more games tomorrow morning against Clarion University at 9 A.M., and Concord University shortly after.
