ROCHESTER, MINN. – Freshman right-hander Hanna Cress had a solid performance in the circle and a late rally fell just short as the University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (22-23) dropped a heartbreaker to No. 1 Augustana, 2-1, in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Thursday (May 13).
The Cougars, which had defeated Minot State, 10-2, in five innings, earlier in the day, battled Augustana, ranked No. 1 in NCAA DII, to the end. USF, which had defeated Augustana, 2-1, on April 22 at Sherman Field, fell 2-1 this time and had a 1-1 record on the opening day of the tourney.
Cress (10-12) worked five innings in the pitcher’s circle and gave up just five hits and one earned run. In throwing 80 pitches, she had 50 strikes. In her performance, she recorded three strikeouts and a walk. Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag finished with one inning of shutout relief. She did not allow a hit and had a strikeout.
USF collected five hits included a double from Kennedy Thomas and singles from Damaris Cuevas, Cassie Van Beek, Rachel Klassen and Shayla Running. With her hit, Cuevas improved her batting average to .438, which ranks second all-time at USF in school history.
USF trailed 2-0 in the seventh inning as Augustana scored a run in the third inning and added another in the fifth inning. Then, USF put the pressure on the top-seeded Vikings.
Van Beek opened the seventh frame with a base hit and Van Der Zwaag drew a walk. Cuevas followed with a run-scoring single to bring home Van Beek. Lexie Swift pinch ran for Van Der Zwaag and advanced to third before the rally ended.
Recap – Game 1 – USF 10 Minot State 2 (five innings)
Seniors Frankie Mickelson and Mika Rodriguez powered USF to a 10-2 win in five innings over Minot State in the opening round game of the NSIC Tourney. The Cougars defeated Minot State for the third time this season (10-2, 9-1 and 7-2) when USF has outscored the Beavers, 26-5. It was also USF third win in a row over MiSU in the tourney after USF won 9-7 in eighth innings in 2019 and 8-6 in 2020.
In earning the run-rule shortened tournament win, USF was led by Mickelson, who had two hits, two runs scored and three RBI. In her home town of Rochester, Minn., Mickelson hit her first home run of the season and 15th of her career (8th all-time at USF) to give USF a 4-0 lead in the second inning. She added a double and scored in third frame. With three RBI, she has tied Ashley Meyer (2017-19) for fifth on USF’s career chart. She also recorded her 33rd multi-hit game with her seventh this season.
Rodriguez had three hits in four at bats with an RBI and two runs scored. She recorded three hits in a game for the third time at USF this season. USF also had two hits, run scored and RBI from Shayla Running, who is now hitting .330 on the season, while Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag and Cassie Van Beek both had a hit and RBI. In addition, USF scored double digits in runs for the fifth time this season and had double digits in hits (12) for the 12th time in 2021.
The Cougars also had a double and three runs scored from Kennedy Thomas and a hit and run scored from second team All-NSIC honoree Damaris Cuevas.
Van Der Zwaag (12-9), who was named first team All-NSIC on Wednesday, picked up her 12th win of the season and her second in NSIC Tournament play (9-7 win over Minot State, 2019). She allowed six hits and one earned run in four innings. In throwing 70 pitches, she had four strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Freshman Hanna Cress worked the final inning and allowing one hit while recording a strikeout, which was her 100th of the season.
