Softball struggles on the road, drop three of four
The team struggled to garner momentum against St. Cloud and Duluth this weekend
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
The Maverick softball team was unfortunately unable to keep up their winning streak alive this weekend, as the team dropped three out of four games on the road Sunday and Monday after facing off with the St. Cloud State Huskies and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
The team first traveled to St. Cloud to face off against the Huskies in a doubleheader Saturday, April 13.
The first game would turn out to be a tight battle of the pitchers, with only seven overall hits in total.
St. Cloud State senior Morgan Emmans got the first score of the game late for the Huskies, hitting a homerun at the bottom of the 6th. This would be the only run scored throughout the first game, concluding it with a loss for the Mavericks at 0-1.
The second game of the day started out with two runs for the Huskies in the second. MSU answered with two runs of their own during the following two innings.
Senior outfielder McKenzie Paap was able to score the first Maverick run of the day, followed by another run by sophomore shortstop Torey Richards, batted in by junior first baseman Amber Kral.
Both teams were unable to score any further, which lead the game to go into an 8th and 9th inning.
St. Cloud state ended the day with a triple by Cassie Francescon followed by an RBI by freshman Alexandra Pinkowski. The game was concluded at 2-3 with another Husky win.
Mankato then took on the Duluth Bulldogs in a doubleheader which had been rescheduled due to the last week.
Monday’s games started out with another unfortunate loss for the Mavericks.
The Duluth Bulldogs took the first game 0-4, including a 2 RBI Home Run by senior Kalynn Tilton during the third.
MSU was unable to hit successfully throughout the game, which made the comeback that followed during the second game of the day even more surprising.
The last game of the day was kicked off by a single through right field by Kennedy Rieck in the second that allowed for the first Maverick run of the day and loaded up the bases.
A grand slam off the bat of sophomore Julia Bastian put Mankato up 5-0 in this very successful second inning.
Duluth then put a run on the board during the fourth to tighten the Maverick’s lead to 5-1.
The Bulldogs almost came back during the last inning after the Mavericks allowed two home runs, bringing in three runs for the Bulldogs. Duluth ended up falling short one run, as the Mavericks would take win over Duluth, 5-4, ended Monday’s doubleheader.
After this weekend’s set of matchups, the Maverick softball team now currently sits at 23-17 overall, placing them ninth in the NSIC. The Mavericks will face off against the Peacocks at Upper Iowa Tuesday. MSU has been able to beat the Peacocks consecutively in their last two seasons.
Header photo courtesy of Keith Paap.