Northern State head softball coach Ashley Schilling had been looking for a player to “step up in an RBI situation and deliver.”
She had two players do exactly that Saturday, April 13 at Koehler Hall of Fame Field.
Junior Liv Richardson and sophomore Kyra Knudtson both delivered walk-off RBIs as the Wolves swept Southwest Minnesota State 6-5 in 10 innings in the opener and 1-0 in Game 2.
Northern improved to 20-18 overall and 6-12 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
“These were very good wins, no doubt,” Schilling said. “SMSU is a team ahead of us in the conference, and so these were very important games and to get two wins is huge. This was really fun though. There are some games when we’re really close. This group has had some tough wins in extra innings and tough losses as well. They just continue to play for each other.”
Both starters kept the opposing lineup in check throughout the first six innings of Game 2.
Northern’s Lexi Chase went seven innings, allowing no runs on three hits. Chase struck out four batters and didn’t yield a walk. SMSU’s Morgyn Otte matched Chase pitch for pitch through six innings, allowing no runs on three hits.
The Wolves scored in the bottom of the seventh. Avarie Eagle reached second base after bouncing into a fielder’s choice during which Brooke Wolf was tagged out during a rundown at third base. Richardson stepped up to the plate with two outs and lined Otte’s first pitch to center, scoring Eagle with the game winner.
Richardson said she had a gut feeling she would deliver.
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“I knew coming into the seventh I was going to be the four hitter and was going to be put in that position, so if I was I was going to take advantage of that,” Richardson said. “I hit off (Otte) pretty well in my previous at bat, so it was just remembering my hand pattern and finding a pitch I could drive.”
In two losses to Minot State earlier in the week, the Wolves couldn’t come up with timely hits. That changed Saturday.
“It’s just trust, really,” Richardson said. “When I go up to the plate, I want to be in that position. I want my teammates to trust me when there’s two out and the game winner on second. I want my team to trust me that I can deliver and trust that anyone else in that position will do the same.”
Schilling said the atmosphere at Koehler Field was a big part of the Wolves play.
“This is what we’ve been wanting for the last two years — the weather lining up, fans coming out on a Saturday — it’s what we envisioned for a home series like today. We had a lot of family come to town for support, and it was fun to see members of other teams in the stands in Game 1 and have that energy you want for a home doubleheader,” she said.
Wolves get walk-off win in extra innings
Northern and SMSU went the distance and then some to start the day as the Wolves walked off with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings.
The Mustangs took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th on a McKenna Waldo pinch-hit RBI single to right field.
After holding a baserunner at third in the bottom of the ninth, the Wolves rallied in the bottom of the 10th.
“I was kicking myself for not sending Emma (Owens) home in the ninth,” Schilling said. “There’s a lot of things that have to come into play in that situation. The ball has to be fielded cleanly and the throw needs to be there in order for the out to be made. To take that risk I did think was worth it, but, again, was kicking myself for not making that call.”
It turned out not to make a difference.
After Coleman singled, she scored on a triple by Ashley Fauske. Fauske then touched home on Knudtson’s line drive just past the dive of SMSU center fielder Brynn Weber.
“I was looking for the first pitch toward the outside of the plate and (to) drive it toward the gap in left center, and that’s what I did,” Knudtson said. “It was awesome. This is the type of win that’s going to give this team energy and keep us going through the rest of the season.”
Schilling was in a thankful mood following Knudtson’s game winner.
“I told the girls, after not sending Emma, thank you for picking me up,” Schilling said. “We had a lot of chances and a lot of runners on base today. This was a good momentum game for us to see that what we worked on this week in practice come through in our at bats. It took a few more innings than we wanted to, but, no question, this was a great win.”
Northern drops home doubleheader against Minot State
Northern dropped both ends of a home doubleheader against Minot State Wednesday, April 10.
The Beavers rallied to take the opener 3-1 in eight innings.
Both teams were scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Wolves broke through with the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice ground out by Claire Zybult that scored Knudtson.
Minot rallied in the top of the seventh, tying the game at one on an RBI single by Hannah Murray that scored Gabi Dawyduk.
Chase had pitched six and two-thirds innings with no runs and three hits up to that point.
“Lexi did a great job of keeping us in the game when we needed her to,” Schilling said. “We were able to score the one run we needed to break that 0-0 tie, but we need to do a better job of closing out the game in seven rather than having it go extra innings.”
Dawyduk plated the game winning runs on a two-out RBI double in the top of the eighth inning.
“I think we called a good pitch on that at bat, but the ball got left out over the plate a bit too much,” Schilling said.
Northern had a chance for a walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh with two runners on and one out, but Madi Jones grounded into a double play to end the inning.
“We just have to be the aggressors at the plate a lot sooner in the game and just want to be the person at bat when we have runners on base,” Schilling said. “I thought the bottom of our lineup did a great job of bringing runners up to the top and getting on base, but we couldn’t punch one through.”
Early miscues costly in Game 2 against Beavers
An error in the top of the first allowed two runs to score for Minot and set the tone as the Beavers cracked 17 hits to secure the sweep with a 10-6 win.
Minot led 4-0 before the Wolves cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth with two unearned runs of their own.
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The Beavers answered with four runs in the top of the sixth inning coming off Abby Rux, who had relieved starter McKenzie Wanner in the third inning.
“We just gave (Minot) too many extra at bats,” Schilling said. “They put some good swings on balls, but we talked about not giving them extra bases or extra opportunities. Some hitters got four, five at bats and you want to keep that to a minimum, which helps our pitchers.”
Northern tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs on a pair of RBI doubles by Taylor Coleman and Emma Owens before Minot’s Calley Olson struck out Zybult to end the game.
“It was nice to see us have some fight in the seventh when we were down, but what we talked about was having the intent to come out more aggressive and, again, not wait until those later innings to get people on base and score runs,” Schilling said.
The Wolves played two games against the University of Mary on Wednesday, April 17, but the results were not available before press time. They host St. Cloud State in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 20. The games begin at 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 21, Northern is back at Koehler Hall of Fame Field for a twin bill against Minnesota-Duluth that starts at noon.
Northern State news and notes
- The Northern State track and field team picked up 21 first-place finishes during the Al Cassell Classic in Jamestown, N.D. on Friday, April 12. Highlights on the men’s side included Chris Weber winning the 100-meter dash in a personal record of 10.76. Weber and Noah Bayer took first and second in the 200. Josh Martin won the 800, while Noah Ford won the pole vault. On the women’s side, Renea Taylor won both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. Megan Pickering won the 1,500-meter run in a personal record of 4:48.02. Aberdeen Central graduate Cassidy Gough won the hammer, while Kamryn Schwartz won the triple jump. The Wolves will host the Dewey Donat Classic Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at the Brownell Activities Complex.
- The Northern State baseball team won one of three games against Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend. The Wolves split two games Sunday, April 14 in Duluth. They took the opener 10-7. Nicholas Ochoa’s RBI double in the top of the seventh gave Northern a five-run cushion before Duluth scored two in the bottom of the inning. The Wolves trailed the Bulldogs 7-0 in Game 2, but rallied in the later innings, scoring five runs in the eighth and ninth before falling 11-8. Nick Friedges went three for five with four runs batted in. Northern opened the series Saturday with an 8-6 loss. The Wolves pounded out 15 hits, led by Jack Weidner, who went three for five with three RBI.
- Â Northern was swept in an NSIC baseball doubleheader Wednesday, April 10 by the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. Northern dropped the opener 7-5. The Wolves trailed 7-1 after five innings, but managed to cut the lead to two, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. Karson Hesser had a solo home run for the Wolves. Max Otto fanned nine batters in five and two-thirds innings on the mound. Mary took Game 2 8-3. Jack Miller got the start and gave up five runs on seven hits in two and two-thirds innings. Results from a Wednesday doubleheader with Southwest Minnesota State were not available at press time. The Wolves host Bemidji State Saturday in a doubleheader that begins at 1:30 p.m. at Fossum Field. The two teams play a single game on Sunday at noon.