sports

UMC SOFTBALL SWEEPS DOUBLEHEADER WITH MSU-MOORHEAD

April 4, 2022

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Softball team won its second straight Northern Sun Conference game after dismantling Minnesota State Moorhead 15-1 in five innings in the first game of a double-header. Game two is going on now.

GAME ONE –
Crookston got things going in the bottom of the first inning when Whitnee Curry (Fresh. Lincoln, Neb) had a solid opening at-bat. She drew three balls, after a strike she fouled a pitch off before drawing a walk. Sydney Huwe (Fresh. Carver) reached on an error and Alina Avalos (Jr. Riverside, CA) doubled to score a run for a 1-0 lead. Shaelyn Grant (Soph. Grand Junction, CO) followed with another double and UMC had a 3-0 lead. After a couple of UMC outs, Leah Macias (Sr. West Covina, CA) walked, Dana Zarn (Jr. Winnipeg, MB) singled in a run and the Golden Eagles led 4-0 and it was a sign of things to come the rest of game one.

In the bottom of the second inning, the first two UMC batters grounded out before Avalos was hit by a pitch. Grant singled before Avalos scored on a wild pitch for a 5-0 lead. Jordan Peterson (Sr. Lakeville) hit a blast over the centerfield fence for a 7-0 lead through two innings of play.

MSUM got on the board with a run in the top of the third inning to get within a 7-1 deficit. UMC countered with another big inning in the bottom of the third when Leah Macias was hit by a pitch, Zarn walked, and the next two batters grounded out, but UMC scored a run to lead 8-1. Huwe reached on an error to knock in another run for a 9-1 lead. Avalos continued her outstanding start to the conference season with a two-run homerun over the leftfield fence for an 11-0 lead.

UMC’s bats continued to be red hot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Emerson Thompson (Fresh. Lincoln, Neb) doubled, Annjelica Moreno-Engelbrecht (Jr. Oceanside, CA) and a run scored on an error for a 12-1 lead. Leah Macias singled, Zarn walked, and Alyssa Stillman (Jr. Hortonville, Wis) doubled to score two more runs for a 14-1 lead. Huwe followed with a single to give the Golden Eagles a 15-1 lead.

In the fifth inning, Evie Stuck retired all three batters she faced and UMC held on for a 15-1 victory.

Box Score	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
MSUM	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	3
UMC	4	3	4	4	–	15	11	2

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Evie Stuck – UMC (W)	5.0	1	1	1	2	4
Anna Lang – MSUM (L)	3.0	6	11	8	3	1
Evey Evans – MSUM	1.0	5	4	3	1	0

For UMC-
Alina Avalos – 2-2, 3 runs, 3 rbi, home run
Shaelyn Grand – 2-3, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Jordan Peterson – 1-2, 2 rbi, run, home run

GAME TWO –
The second game was the complete opposite of the first game as both pitchers started the game by retiring most of the batters they faces.
Through two innings, each team had one hit apiece with UMC’s Jordan Peterson (Sr. Lakeville) recording the only hit.
UMC got the bats going in the bottom of the third inning. Jenna Parfeniuk (Soph. Winnipeg, MB) led off with a single and Leah Macias (Sr. West Covina, CA) reached on a fielder’s choice as the Dragons got the out at second base. Whitnee Curry (Fresh. Lincoln, Neb) followed with a single and S. Huwe followed with a single to score a run and Crookston took a 1-0 lead.

UMC got out of a jam in the top of the fifth inning when Moorhead had two baserunners, but the Golden Eagles got out of the inning with three straight outs. In the bottom of the inning, UMC led off with a ground out, before Huwe (Fresh. Carver) and Avalos walked. The runners advanced on a passed ball before Shaelyn Grant (Soph. Grand Junction, CO) put an outstanding at-bat together. The first three pitches were balls, followed by two strikes. On the sixth pitch, Grant fouled a pitch off before blasting a shot over the centerfield fence to give the Golden Eagles a 4-0 lead.

Moorhead finally got on the board with a couple of hits to score a run to get within a 4-1 deficit in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Zarn singled, Parfeniuk doubled before Leah Macias grounded out to score a run for a 5-1 lead. Curry walked and stole second before Huwe flew out, but another run scored for a 6-1 lead through six innings.

MSUSM wasn’t able to score in the seventh inning, and UMC completed the sweep of Minnesota State Moorhead. UMC improves to 3-1 in the NSIC and 12-17 overall and will travel to the University of Mary for a doubleheader on Thursday, April 7.
Minnesota State Moorhead drops to 2-4 in the NSIC and 5-17 overall.