Sam Thiel/Winonan

The No. 23 Winona State University softball team split its doubleheader matchup against Missouri Southern on March 19 in Joplin, Mo., losing 1-0 in the first game before exploding in the finale with a 12-4 win.

The first game was a battle of the pitchers, with Missouri Southern scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Britt Stewart gave a strong effort on the hill for Winona State, allowing just a pair of hits and one unearned run on the day.

On the offensive end, the Warriors recorded four hits, with Brooke Piotrowski, Reed Karsten, Morgan Lintz and Jordan Petersen collecting singles for the Warriors.

In the nightcap Winona State quickly built a 4-0 advantage and took control from there on, posting a 12-4 victory.
Lintz crossed the plate for the first run of the game for the Warriors in the first inning, following a pair of singles by Ashley Walker and Stewart with an RBI base hit of her own.

Winona State chipped in a trio of runs to their lead in the next inning, with Karsten getting an RBI on a groundout and Walker collecting a two-run hit.

Missouri Southern were able to get on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom half of the second but the Warriors answered back, plating two more in the third inning to increase their advantage to five, 6-1. Jenny Nelson walked and later scored on a homer by Jessica Kullmann.

The Warriors increased their advantage to 12-1 in the fifth as Lintz led off the frame with a solo shot and Kullmann connected for her second two-run homer of the game.  Winona State got three more runs in the inning, with Walker netting another RBI and Stewart recording a two-run single.

Missouri Southern scored three in the bottom of the sixth but couldn’t cut the deficit any closer.

Walker not only went 2-for-4 at bat but also tossed a complete game on the mound in the victory.

In its final non-conference tune-up, the Winona State softball team split its doubleheader matchup against Pittsburg State on March 20.

The Warriors dropped the opening game 10-5 before completing their non-conference schedule with a 13-11 victory in extra innings. The Gorillas and the Warriors recorded 39 runs in their matchup in Kansas.

Both squads recorded runs in the third inning of the first game, starting with an RBI hit by Ashley Walker that drove home Reed Karsten with Kaitlin Hardie, also coming home thanks to a Pittsburg State error.

The Gorillas bounced back to net a trio of runs in the bottom half of the third to take a 3-2 lead.

Winona State and PSU each tallied three additional runs in the fourth, with the Warriors recording their first run of the frame on a bases loaded RBI base hit by Jordan Petersen. Brooke Piotrowski got on the base paths on an error that allowed the Warriors to score again and Karsten connected on an RBI single of her own. Pittsburg State posted three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a one run lead, 6-5.

The Gorillas took a 10-5 advantage after adding a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

In the second game, both teams burst out the offense; combining for a total of 24 runs and 28 hits, with Winona State coming away with the 13-11 win.

Pittsburg State got on the board first, recording a pair of runs in the first. However the Warriors bounced back, plating six runs in the second, thanks to a double by Walker that drove in three.

Piotrowski, Karsten and Britt Stewart each had RBI singles in the frame to build the Warrior lead to 6-2.

Winona State kept piling on to its lead in the fourth, with all four runs on a grand slam by Jenny Nelson, giving the Warriors a 10-4 advantage. The Gorillas wouldn’t give up, getting three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 10-7.

PSU would tie things up at 10 in the sixth with three more runs and the game went into extra innings, as neither team would score in the seventh.

In the extra frame the Warriors plated three runs in the eighth, with Walker hitting an RBI single and Morgan Lintz belting a two-run shot.

The Warriors gave up a run in the bottom of the extra frame, but made sure that PSU didn’t score again as Winona State got the win.

The Warriors used five home runs to their advantage on its way to a doubleheader split against Upper Iowa Thursday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Warriors posted a 7-4 loss in the first game before busting out the bats in a 12-2 rout in the finale.

The team scored all four of its runs on the deep ball in the opener, with Ashley Walker hammering a two-run shot in the first to get the Warriors going on the scoreboard and Britt Stewart adding a solo homer later in the inning. Jenny Nelson connected on a solo shot of her own to give the team a 4-3 advantage.

Upper Iowa recorded three runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to take a 7-4 win.

In the second game the Warriors got out to a 2-0 advantage in the first, with Morgan Lintz blasting a two-run shot.

Then the Warrior offense went to work in the third, plating ten runs to make the lead 12-0. Walker started and finished the scoring in the frame, beginning with an RBI single and ending with a two-run homer later in the inning.

Britt Stewart, Shannon Nelson and Brooke Piotrowski each had two-RBI base hits in the frame for the Warriors.

Walker was dominant on the hill, giving up just five hits and a pair of runs en route to a complete game.

Winona State is now 16-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They will return to action on April 2 when they travel to Augustana.

Contact Sam at [email protected]