The Winona State University’s women’s softball team had an average week where they honored their senior players. They played six games and won three of them, which took them to the sixth position of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Their current score is fourteen wins and eight losses in the conference and 30 wins and 18 losses overall.

The first two games of the week were in Mankato, against Minnesota State University – Mankato. The Warriors lost the first with a score of 1-2 runs on the board. Winona State scored a run in the third inning whereas Minnesota State – Mankato was at zero runs till the fourth inning.

Things went in favor of the host in the fifth inning as they scored two runs. That was the last run scored in the game. Minnesota State Mankato won without batting in the last inning as they kept the lead.

The Warriors took this loss quite personally moving into the second game. They won with four runs where Minnesota State – Mankato was unable to score. They scored one run each in the third and sixth inning and two runs in the last inning.

“We just have to stick to ourselves, not play out of our game and just do our best,” Jayda Berg said.

After the away games, the Warriors faced Augustana University at home. Augustana entered the game running at a nineteen-game winning streak. The Warriors lost both games on Saturday, but they gave a good fight in the second one.

Augustana won the first game at 11-1 runs. Until the fourth inning, the score was 1-1. In the fifth inning, Augustana’s batters turned the game significantly in their favor. They scored six runs to ensure their lead. In the sixth inning, they added one more run and they finished the final inning with three more to secure their victory. In response, Winona State could not score any runs to attempt to battle back.

Winona State acknowledged their senior players on the break between the games. They shared their last moments on the team with their families in front of the crowd, giving them a bittersweet goodbye.

In the second game against Augustana, the Warriors gave a tough fight. At the end of the third inning, the score left Winona State at four runs and Augustana at two runs. The game turned again in the middle of the fourth inning when Augustana managed four runs and took the lead once again.

The game ended at 11-8, with another Augustana win. The weather was cold and windy, however, according to the Warrior head coach Greg Jones, it did not make any impact on the game. He mentioned that there was a lack of execution. Like a strong-minded coach, he took the blame and made sure to turn it around in the next game.

“I’m learning things each day, each game and I’m excited to see what comes,” Tiegan Mancuso said.

On Sunday afternoon, the Warriors displayed one of their best performances against Southwest Minnesota State University. They scored eleven runs in just five innings while they kept their opponents at zero. From the beginning, the Warriors started scoring runs. In the first two innings they had scored seven runs. This allowed them to take hold of the game, which they kept hold of till the end.

The second game was more competitive than the first. This time, the Warriors took the win at 9-1. In the first four innings, their score was zero. Southwest State had their only run in the second inning and in the fifth inning, the Warriors showed their full potential by scoring nine runs to finish off the game.

Winona State has six more games left before they move to the NSIC tournament. They will face Concordia University on April 24, and the University of Sioux Falls on April 27.