Kansas City
Southern Utah
UMKC Claims Summit League Title With Doubleheader Sweep Of T-Birds
5/7/2011 5:17:00 PM | Softball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC softball team (36-14, 18-5) won the 2011 Summit League Title with a doubleheader sweep of Southern Utah (24-21, 14-10) on Senior Day at Loyola Park. The 'Roos opened the day with a 4-1 win over the Thunderbirds before taking game two, 5-1 and extending their win streak to a school record 13 straight games.
Junior Anna Sokolik led the UMKC offense on the day, finishing 5-for-6 with three RBIs, a run and the game-winning home run in the first game. With the three RBIs, Sokolik now has 36 RBIs, passing teammate Emily Ott's 35 RBIs in each of the past two seasons for the UMKC record.
In the opening game, the 'Roos got on the board first in the bottom of the second when freshman Katie Henning doubled to right, knocking in junior Danielle Bennefeld.
Southern Utah evened the contest in the top of the third, but Sokolik's home run in the bottom half of the inning scored juniors Kaelene Curry and Kelly Fischer and put the 'Roos on top for good.
UMKC starter Deanna Friese would take of the rest, as the sophomore would allow only three baserunners over the final four innings to seal the win and give the 'Roos their second Summit League crown and first since 2002.
In the game, Friese tossed all seven inning, allowing one run on three hits, while striking out 10 for her 26th win of the season.
In the second game of the day, the Thunderbirds took the early lead when they struck for a first inning run off UMKC starter Ott.
The 'Roos, though, would take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the second when Lauren Rodrigues, one of two UMKC seniors, singled up the middle, scoring Bennefeld and the second senior, Amanda Kinn.
The score would remain 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth when the Kangaroos tacked on a pair of runs thanks to a Kinn single that knocked in Ott, while also plating Bennefeld on an SUU error.
The 'Roos then added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Curry scored on another Southern Utah error.
Ott, meanwhile, settled down after the first inning, allowing just five baserunners over the final five innings for her third win of the season. In the game, the sophomore scattered six hits in the complete game effort, striking out five Thunderbirds in the process.
The Blue & Gold will now head to Macomb, Ill., for the 2011 Summit League Championship as the No. 1 seed where they will face these same Thunderbirds on Thursday at 12 p.m. No. 2 seeded North Dakota State and No. 3 seeded IPFW, meanwhile, will face-off at 2:30 p.m.
