Sam Thiel/Winonan

After opening the 2013 season with four wins, the Winona State University softball team continued to stay undefeated on the season, sweeping Grand View Friday in the RCTC Dome in Rochester. The Warriors took game one 7-2 before finishing the sweep with an 8-3 win in game two.

The Warriors quickly built themselves an early advantage in the opening game, tallying two in the first inning on RBI singles by Jenny Nelson and Morgan Lintz. Natalie Kalmes’ single in the fourth inning increased the Winona State lead to 3-0.

Winona State burst the gates wide open in the fifth, adding four more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Lauren Flannery knocked in two on a double, with the Warriors getting the other two runs on a couple of wild pitches.

Britt Stewart, Nelson and Flannery each recorded a pair of hits in the game.

Michelle Lund allowed just one hit as well as striking out five throughout five innings on the mound.

The Warriors took a quick lead in the finale, knotting four runs in the first inning. Stewart and Nelson each recorded RBI’s on hits while Lintz drove in another run on a sacrifice fly. Winona State brought in their last run of the inning courtesy of a Grand View error.

The Vikings recorded a run in the bottom of the first inning and, after a RBI single by Reed Karsten for the Warriors, tallied a pair of runs in the second to give Warriors a 5-3 lead.

Winona State increased their advantage to 6-3 after a solo home run by Nelson in the third and added another run in the fifth on a Lintz double.

The Warriors continued their scoring onslaught in the top of the seventh, with Jordan Petersen lacing a double down the right field line, bringing in their final run of the game.

Morgan Lintz recorded her first career victory on the mound, giving up three runs throughout four innings of work for the Warriors. Ashley Walker sealed the deal for Winona State with three innings of no-hit ball.

Lintz recorded a pair of home runs and brought in five as the Winona State continued their winning streak by sweeping Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday, March 2 at the RCTC Dome in Rochester.

The Warriors took the first game 5-2 before withstanding a late rally in the second game to record a 12-10 win.

Lintz went 3-for-6 in her at-bats throughout the doubleheader, tallying a home run in each game. Every hit the sophomore tallied on the day were extra base hits.

The Warriors dropped into a 2-0 deficit after UW-Parkside’s part of the first inning in the opener. However the Warriors fought back, producing four runs of their own to take a 4-2 advantage that they wouldn’t give away.

Ashley Walker started the scoring with a single that drove home Reed Karsten. Lintz followed that up with an RBI triple that plated Walker, with Kaitlin Hardie and Lauren Flannery each getting RBIs in the inning as well.

Both teams didn’t score again until the fifth when Lintz hit a solo homer to give the Warriors a 5-2 lead.

Stewart threw a complete game for Winona State, allowing only one earned run while striking out eight to improve to 3-0 on the year.

The Warriors jumped out to a huge lead in the second game, taking a 10-3 lead after four innings.

Winona State scored a run in each of the first couple of innings and added three more in the third to take a 5-0 advantage. Winona State’s runs in the third came on a three-run long ball by Lintz.

Walker produced a two-RBI single in the fourth inning and Stewart, Jenny Nelson and Jordan Petersen each plated one as the Warriors drove in five in the same inning to increase the lead to 10-1.

The Rangers tallied a couple of runs in the bottom half of the fourth but Winona State answered with two of its own in the sixth thanks to a double by Hardie to give the Warriors a 12-3 advantage.

The Rangers wouldn’t quit, however, adding two runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to cut the deficit to only two, 12-10. UW-Parkside had what would be the tying run at bat when Walker got Kira Cooper to strike out to end the game.

Walker was the Warriors’ starting pitcher, tossing four innings and striking out five, before handing the ball over to Michelle Lund in the fifth. Walker would come back to pitch with two outs in the lower half of the seventh and took care of Cooper to seal the win.

“As a team I believe we have a very strong line up with a great mixture of speed and power,” Lintz said. “I think what we did effectively this weekend on the offensive front was we were able to take advantage of what they were giving us and have timely at bats. Meaning with runners on base, whether there be zero or two outs, we were able to get the hit needed to score the runs in both instances.”

The Warriors stay undefeated on the season, improving their record to 8-0. Winona State will head to Florida where they will play eight games next week, starting with Concordia College (NY) on March 6th.

Contact Sam at [email protected].