Wayne, Neb. – Wayne State scored in every inning rolling to an 11-2 win in the opener but suffered a 6-5 defeat in the second game to split a Northern Sun Conference softball doubleheader vs. MSU Moorhead Friday afternoon in Wayne. The games were moved from Moorhead, Minnesota to Wayne due to cold weather in North Dakota. WSC is now 9-28 and 6-10 in NSIC games while MSUM is now 6-24 and 3-11 in the league.
Senior catcher Kim Vidlak went 3 for 4 with two RBI and three runs scored while sophomore starter Callie Carraher fired a complete-game four hitter to pace the Wildcats.
WSC scored two runs each in the first and second innings to take an early 4-0 lead. Jenna Etmans had a sacrifice fly and Vidlak reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a wild pitch for the first two runs. The second inning saw Kortney Buresh deliver an RBI single for the first run while Mary Krystofiak (single) scored on an MSUM error.
After the Dragons scored in the bottom of the second to make the score 4-1, WSC got the run back in the top of the third on a Krystofiak sacrifice fly. MSUM scored again in the bottom of the inning to cut the ‘Cat lead to 5-2.
A five-run fourth inning for WSC put the game out of reach. Etmans had a two-run single while Riley Holmberg, Vidlak and Madison Gomez each contributed run-scoring singles for a 10-2 WSC lead.
Wayne State added one more run in the fifth on a Vidlak RBI single to left field for the 11-2 win.
The Wildcats had 12 hits in the win, led by Vidlak going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Buresh and Holmberg each added two singles while Etmans had a single and three RBI.
Carraher (2-3) fired a complete game win for WSC, allowing just four hits and two runs (both unearned) with seven strikeouts and one walk.
MSU Moorhead rallied in the second game and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 6-5 win and gain a split of the doubleheader.
MSUM scored two runs in the bottom of the first, but WSC got on the board in the second on a Kamryn Sparks RBI single that scored Gomez, who doubled to lead off the frame.
The Dragons held a 3-1 lead entering the fourth inning when WSC scored three times for a 4-3 lead. Krystofiak had an RBI single while Paiton Tornberg reached on a Dragon fielding error with two runs scoring.
MSUM tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Wildcats re-gained the lead in the top of the fifth when Vidlak tripled down the right field line and scored on a RBI groundout by Etmans.
But the Dragons added runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to rally for the 6-5 win.
MSUM held a 13-8 edge in hits over the Wildcats. Gomez was 3 for 4 with a triple, double and two runs scored. Vidlak tripled while Etmans, Krystofiak, Sparks and Lauren Laudick each singled.
Freshman reliever Grace Lucka (1-4) suffered the pitching loss, working the final five innings while starter Samantha Felt pitched the first inning.
The Wildcats scheduled road games Saturday at Northern State have been moved to Wayne due to cold temperatures and will begin at 12 p.m. at the Pete Chapman Softball Complex.
