Sophomore starting pitcher Sloan Cooksey fired her second straight complete game win in the opener and then came on in the second game for two innings of relief to pick up another win as Wayne State notched a 4-1 and 7-5 Northern Sun Conference softball sweep over MSU Moorhead Sunday afternoon at the Pete Chapman Softball Complex in Wayne. WSC improves to 7-27 on the season and 4-18 in league play while MSUM drops to 7-28 and 5-16 in conference play.
Cooksey fired a complete game win in the opener, allowing just five hits and one run in a 4-1 win.
All four Wildcat runs came in the fourth inning as WSC had six hits while using two Dragon errors to score their runs. Ashley Hernandez and Kim Vidlak each had RBI singles in the inning for the Wildcats.
That was all the support Cooksey would need as MSUM scored their lone run of the contest in the fifth inning.
WSC had nine hits in the win, led by Vidlak going 3 for 4 with an RBI. Kortney Buresh went 2-4 while Jenna Etmans, Riley Holmberg, Hernandez and Emily Hale each singled.
The second game saw WSC rally with three runs in the bottom of the sixth frame to complete the sweep with a 7-5 win over MSU Moorhead.
The Cats controlled the game early, scoring one in the first and three in the second for an early 4-0 lead.
Holmberg laced an RBI single in the first that scored Buresh while Kamryn Sparks came through with a bases-loaded triple down the right field line the second to put WSC ahead 4-0.
But MSU Moorhead came back with two runs in the third and three in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.
In the sixth inning, pinch hitter Michaela Smith started the inning with a walk. Pinch-runner Abby Husing later scored on a Vidlak infield single to tie the score at 5-5.
Sparks followed with an RBI single that brought home Buresh (infield single) for a 6-5 lead and the final run for WSC was a bases loaded walk to Etmans that scored Vidlak.
Cooksey pitched the sixth and seventh innings and allowed just one hit with one strikeout to earn the win in relief.
WSC had 10 hits in the contest, paced by Vidlak going 3 for 4 for the second straight game. Sparks was 2 for 3 with a triple and four RBI. Buresh added two singles and two runs scored.
Sophomore Hadley Chvatal started the game and worked three innings followed by two innings of relief from senior Maddie Moser. Cooksey then worked two scoreless innings of relief to get her third win in two days.
The Wildcats will be at home again next weekend hosting Minnesota Crookston Saturday and Bemidji State Sunday starting at noon each day.
