April 14, 2009
Game 1 - Wayne State 1 #22 Nebraska-Omaha 0
Game 2 - Wayne State 9 #22 Nebraska-Omaha 3
Wayne State College earned 1-0 and 9-3 wins over #22 Nebraska-Omaha in a non-conference softball double-header played in Wayne on Tuesday afternoon. Wayne State has won eight straight games and is 27-12 overall on the season. Nebraska-Omaha dropped to 32-9 on the season with the losses.
Game one remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs in the inning, Blaire Kuhl and Jennifer Radley each singled to put runners on first and second. Sam Earleywine followed with an RBI double to score Kuhl with the only run of the game, giving Wayne State the 1-0 win. Nebraska-Omaha had seven hits in game one compared to five for Wayne State, and UNO had the only error of the game. Hannah Engelkamp went 2 for 3 to lead Wayne State offensively. Blaire Kuhl, Jennifer Radley and Sam Earleywine had the other hits for the ‘Cats in game one, and Kuhl extended her hitting streak to 19 games. Katie Goetzinger improved to 19-8 on the season with another complete game for Wayne State. Goetzinger allowed seven hits with 10 strikeouts in the win. Kristi Meneely went 3 for 3 to lead the way offensively for UNO in the loss, and Lindsey Slocum added two hits. Melissa Negrete (13-4) took the loss on the mound for the Mavericks. Negrete allowed just one run and five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in six innings of work for UNO.
Wayne State jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning to take control of game two. Amy Sandstrom led off the first inning with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Hannah Engelkamp. Blaire Kuhl followed with an RBI single, which extended her hitting streak to 20 games for the Wildcats. After Jennifer Radley was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, Sam Earleywine delivered an RBI double which scored Kuhl to give Wayne State a 2-0 lead. Brittany Greenwood followed with an RBI single to score Radley, and Amber Baird delivered an RBI double to score Earleywine which extended the WSC lead to 4-0. Katie Goetzinger then drove in Brittany Greenwood on a fielder’s choice to give the ‘Cats the 5-0 lead after an inning of play. The score remained the same until the top of the fourth inning when Jenna Dell and Amanda Bader hit back-to-back solo home runs for the Mavericks, which cut the Wayne State lead to 5-2. The ‘Cats responded in their half of the fourth inning when Sam Earleywine smacked a two-run single which increased the Wildcat lead to 7-2. WSC added two more runs in the sixth inning on a two-run double by Earleywine which made the score 9-2. Katelyn Hinton had a solo home run for UNO in the seventh inning to make the final score 9-3.
Wayne State had 11 hits in the second game compared to nine for Nebraska-Omaha, and both teams had one error. Sam Earleywine led the way offensively for Wayne State in the win. Earleywine went 3 for 4 with five runs batted in and a run scored for the ‘Cats. Amy Sandstrom went 2 for 4 with a run scored for Wayne State. Amber Baird (8-4) earned the win on the mound for WSC. Baird allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in six innings of work. Brooke Vollmer pitched the final inning for Wayne State and allowed one run on three hits. Jenna Dell and Amanda Bader each went 2 for 4 with a home run, and Molly Feichtinger also added two hits for the Mavericks. Lindsey Slocum (10-1) suffered her first loss of the season for the Mavericks, allowing five runs on five hits in just 1/3 of an inning pitched. Beth Haley worked the final 5 2/3 innings for UNO, allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
Wayne State returns to Northern Sun Conference play Wednesday afternoon with a key doubleheader at #24 Minnesota State in Mankato, Minnesota starting at 2:00 p.m.