Article by Thomas Riess. Photo by the St. Cloud State Athletic Department/Nathaly Delgado.
The St. Cloud State Huskies softball team earned a two-game sweep of the Sioux Falls Cougars this past Saturday. The Huskies were on the road at Bowden Field in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Game one started fast as Reese Holzhueter and Grace Frechette each singled to begin their days. Later in the inning with runners at first and third, the Huskies tried the double steal with Maddie Fitzgerald taking off for second, the throw went to second and Reese Holzhueter took advantage of the throw, advancing to home to plate the first run of the ball game.
In the second inning, the Huskies again started with back-to-back hits and a walk, to load the bases for Hannah Harms. Harms would hit a sac fly to score the second run of the game. Bree Beck then cleared the bases with a 2-RBI double and later would score to end the second with the Huskies up 5-0. Sioux Falls would score one run in the bottom of the second.
The game would remain quiet until the fifth, when the Cougars would string together two hits and plate both runners to cut the Husky lead to two.
Finally in the top of the seventh, the Huskies offense would come back to life with four runs on three hits. Brooke Holmes and Sydney Roe each picked up an RBI’s and Bethany Weiss scored two on a two-out double to center field.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars Jaeleigh Darnell worked a two-out walk and would come around to score to make it 9-4, but the Huskies would get the final out to take game one.
Macey Clark went four and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts, and Justyce Porter finished the final two and one-thirds innings with four strikeouts. Clark recorded her fourteenth win on the season.
Game two picked up right where the Huskies left off. The first six Huskies reached base with five hits and five runs scored. Cougars starter Hannah Strickland would be pulled before she even recorded an out. Sioux Falls would answer back with one of their own in the bottom of the frame to end the first inning 5-1.
In the subsequent half-inning, St. Cloud State would score one run on Maggie Fitzgerald’s second career triple. Brooke Holmes would then hit a sacrifice fly to score Fitzgerald to extend the lead to 7-1.
Sydney Roe would start the third with a single for the Huskies and would come around to score on Evy Polsfuss’ first hit of the day. The Huskies led the Cougars 8-1 after three innings.
Each team would only account for one hit over the next two and a half innings. Finally in the top of the sixth inning, Bree Beck hit a bunt single. Two batters later, Grace Frechette hit a towering two-run home run to push the Husky lead to 10-1 in the sixth inning. Pitcher Emma Eickhoff would round out her complete game with two strikeouts in the bottom half of the sixth.
The run-rule would trigger, ending the game and completing the sweep for the Huskies. Eickhoff is now an unbelievable 15-0 on the season. She adds to her candidacy for NSIC pitcher of the year. With the sweep, the Huskies improved to 34-11 on the season and extend their winning streak to nine games.
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