Winter Haven, Fla. – It was a late night in the Sunshine State for Minnesota Crookston, who was able to pick up a sweep on the penultimate day of the Spring Games on Saturday. Minnesota Crookston mounted a late rally against Wayne State University, 4-2 and used defensive struggles from Salem University to knock off the Tigers, 6-3.
Minnesota Crookston moves to 6-16 on the season and will close out their Florida trip tomorrow morning.
Game One
It wouldn't take long for the Golden Eagles to put a number on the board, as
Rayna French (Fr., C, La Salle, Manitoba) would single home
Paige Shwaluk (Sr., MIF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba), who led off the game with a single up the middle.
Wayne State would score the next four runs of the game, including two runs in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead heading into the final inning.
Minnesota Crookston would get off to a good start in need of a rally, as
Haley Koch (Jr., C, Mondamin, Iowa) would single to right center.
Maddie Shwaluk (Sr., OF, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba) and
Paige Shwaluk would each single to load the bases.
With one out,
Whitnee Curry (Jr., MIF/OF, Lincoln, Neb.) would drive in a run with a bases loaded walk. Wayne State pitcher Sydney Long, who threw over 140 pitches in the game, would get out of the seventh inning jam and preserve the two run win.
Paige Shwaluk led the Golden Eagle offense, going 2-4 with a run scored in the game. French continued her outstanding hitting and now has a hit in every game in Florida and has an eight game hitting streak. Koch,
Maddie Shwaluk and
Reagan Emerick (R-Jr., MIF, Macomb, Ill.) would each collect a hit.
Making her third start in Florida,
Thayda Houser (Sr., P, Seymour, Iowa) would be outstanding again, albeit falling to 1-5 on the season. Houser went 5.1 innings and gave up four runs, just two of which were earned, on eight hits.
Alexa Guilford (So., P, Crystal City, Manitoba) would come on in relief and get the final two outs of the sixth inning.
Game Two
Looking for a split, the Golden Eagles would once again strike early, putting a crooked number in the bottom of the first. French would get the Golden Eagles on the board early with an RBI hit, scoring
Paige Shwaluk. Later in the inning,
Charlotte Dombrowski (So., P/OF, Valparaiso, Ind.) would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring
Brittney Mengel (Jr., OF, Sullivan, Wis.) to make it 2-0 in favor of the good guys.
The Tigers would waste no time getting back in the game, as they would strike for three runs in the second inning to take a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Golden Eagles would use a pair of Salem errors to regain their lead. The big hit would be a blooper from Dombrowski, driving in a pair of runs in French and Mengel.
Dombrowski would come through again in the bottom of the fourth inning, singling in
Paige Shwaluk, who finished the game with three stolen bases, the most in a single game in her Golden Eagle career.
Evie Stuck (Jr., P, Papillion, Neb.), who was outstanding in relief and earned the win, would throw four innings of zero and would shut down the Tigers for the 6-3 win.
Paige Shwaluk went a perfect 2-2 with a double and a walk in the game and was 4-6 on the day and scored three runs in the game, four on the day. Dombrowski was 2-3 with three RBI and Emerick also finished with two hits in the game. The Golden Eagles struck out just twice in the game.
Guilford earned the start and went 3.1 innings, giving up three runs, all of which were earned and gave up five hits. Stuck would strike out four in 3.2 innings of work.
What's Next
The maroon and gold will wrap-up their 10 games in Florida tomorrow at 9 A.M., Central against Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Saint Michaels College shortly following the first game.
