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Warriors Reach Region Finals

Story by: Winona State Sports Information Office


EMPORIA, KS -- Kristen Fossell tossed a three-hitter and Jenny Wilmes came up with a huge two-run single to lead Winona State University to a 3-0 win over Minnesota State University, Mankato and a berth in the finals of the NCAA Division II North Central Region Tournament.

The No. 6 Seed Warriors (38-14) will take on the No. 1 Seed and No. 6 nationally-ranked Emporia State University, KS (43-15) in the championships. The Warriors, who were handed their only loss in the region tournament by the ESU Hornets, must defeat the Hornets twice in order to advance on to the NCAA Division II final eight tournament that will be held in Houston, TX May 10-14.

Fossell, who has recorded the decision in all four of the Warrior region games, held the MSUM Mavericks (42-16) in check through out most of the game, including a string of 12 consecutive outs. The only real trouble Fossell got into came in the sixth inning when MSUM loaded the bases with two outs, but a pop out to Callie Givens got Fossell and the Warriors out of trouble.

For the game, Fossell did not strike out a batter, but she issue only one walk and two WSU fielding errors allowed the only other Maverick runners to reach base.

Wilmes did the biggest offensive damage for the Warriors in the fourth inning when her ground ball managed to sneak through the middle of the infield and Givens and Chelsea Rosenow scored on the play to give WSU a 3-0 lead.

What proved to be the only run the Warriors really needed came in the third frame, when Mollie Bjelland singled to left with two outs. Bjelland then beat the throw to second on Wilmes' ground ball and would go on to score when Annie Stuedemann's ground went through the legs of the MSUM shortstop.

The Warriors scattered nine hits, two each from Givens and Rosenow, among seven batters.

(Boxscore)

Last Modified: Saturday, May 10, 2008 17:13 by Michael Herzberg