Wayne State 2 #12 Augustana 0
The Wayne State College softball team captured its first ever Northern Sun Conference Tournament title Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 win over 12th-ranked and NSIC regular season champion Augustana in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Wildcats earn the NSIC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with a 40-12 record following the win. It will be the second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the Wildcats. Official pairings for the NCAA Division II National Tournament will be announced Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the first inning as WSC registered three hits off Augustana starter Ashley Meyer to take the early lead. Kassie Nurton singled to third and advanced to second on Blaire Kuhl's single down the left field line. Nurton later scored on Jennifer Radley's single to give WSC the early 1-0 lead.
Augustana's lone scoring threat on Wildcat starter Katie Goetzinger came in the second inning when the Vikings recorded back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on first and second, but Goetzinger then struck out the next two Augustana batters to get out of the inning.
WSC added another run in the top of the sixth inning when Radley opened the frame with a walk. Pinch runner Alesha Finkey advanced to second on Hannah Engelkamp's sacrifice bunt. Katie Goetzinger's ground out to second sent Finkey to third and she then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0.
The two runs would hold up for Goetzinger, who pitched her second straight shutout in the same day against the 12th-ranked Vikings. She allowed just three hits and struck out five without issuing a walk to improve to 29-8 on the season.
Wayne State had seven hits in the game to three for the Vikings. Freshman designated player Kassie Nurton capped a stellar tournament going 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and run scored. Amy Sandstrom, Blaire Kuhl, Jennifer Radley, Katie Goetzinger and Brittany Greenwood each singled to round out Wayne State's seven hits.
Wayne State had three players named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team as Katie Goetzinger, Amy Sandstrom and Kassie Nurton represented the Wildcats on the 11-member squad.
Goetzinger was sensational for the Wildcats on the mound during the tournament, going 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA pitching three shutouts in the four games. She had 36 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched and allowed just 13 hits and no runs with just two walks.
Nurton hit .417 during the tournament and led WSC with five hits in the four games. She was 5 for 12 at the plate with two doubles, one triple and three runs scored.
Sandstrom was 3 for 14 in the tournament with one homer and a team-high three RBI's for the Wildcats and one stolen base.
