Saturday, May 8
Grand Forks, ND
12:00 PM
Kansas City
26-24, 10-13
2
at
1
University of North Dakota
16-30, 8-13
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Kansas City
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
1
North Dakota
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
7
0
Kansas City Closes Regular Season With Two Wins Over North Dakota
5/8/2021 7:30:00 PM | Softball
Seniors Willis and Lombardini lead the Roos on defense and at the plate
Grand Forks, ND – Kansas City (27-24, 11-13) left it all on the field in their final two regular season games against North Dakota (16-31, 8-14). Two seniors, Lia Lombardini and Faith Willis, led the charge to victory in both games. The day also highlighted two amazing complete-game pitching performances by Mia Hoveland and Camryn Stickel.
The Roos will stay in North Dakota and extend their business trip to Fargo for the first round of The Summit League Softball Championship that will begin on Wednesday, May 12. Kansas City will be the four-seed in the tournament and face the fifth seeded South Dakota Coyotes at 3 p.m.
"We hope we are coming out of our hitting funk in time to make a run in the conference tournament," Head Coach Kerry Shaw said.
Game 1- Kansas City 2, North Dakota 1
Two seniors on the Kansas City squad were the unsung heroes in game three of the series. Lia Lombardini added the only RBI of the game that carried the team offensively to a victory. And Faith Willis made an outstretched diving play to her left to put a halt to a North Dakota rally and save a run.
"Faith saved game one for us defensively, she read the ball incredibly well and sold out when the game was on the line," Shaw said.
The Roos hopped on the bases early, scoring two in the first inning. Lombardini brought in the first run on a single to right field that scored Ally Vonfeldt. And once again, Willis used her speed and base running IQ to score on a wild pitch and give KC the early 2-0 lead.
A pitchers' duel settled in after the first frame. Neither team added a run until the sixth inning when North Dakota added a run and cut the Roos' lead in half.
"Mia goes out there every time and throws her heart out for her team," Shaw said. "She does what she can to be on top at the end and continues to do so even if she has had some tough breaks."
After Kansas City's two runs in the first inning, the defense took over behind Mia Hoveland's leadership in the circle. She earned her 13th victory this season and added seven more strikeouts to bring her to 180 on the season. Hoveland owned the mound in Grand Forks, ending her weekend with 15 strikeouts and only allowing four runs.
Game 2- Kansas City 7, North Dakota 1
Kansas City's offense was once again sparked by the bat of Lombardini who hit a triple to put the Roos on top early. Her blast down the left field line scored Willis, as well as herself on heads up base running to give the Roos the two-run lead in the second inning.
"Our seniors stepped up today, especially Lia at the plate," Shaw said. "We need her to breakout for the conference tournament."
The golden glove day continued for Willis who made her own human highlight reel in left field. She made diving catches, reaching catches, and threw runners out at home to keep North Dakota from gaining any momentum.
"Faith's throwing that runner out at the plate changed the momentum of the game," Shaw said. "She played it perfectly and it had to be perfect to get a girl out with that much speed."
In the middle of the game, the Roos brought out the muscles and went on a homerun hitting streak. The first homerun came in the fourth inning by Delainey Fenoglio who bombed a solo shot to give KC the 3-0 advantage. In the fifth inning, Kloe Hilbrenner decided she needed to top off her amazing weekend with another homerun. She finished the weekend 8-for-13 with two homeruns, three RBIS, two runs scored, and seven stolen bases. Then the senior Lombardini decided to put the game away with a three-run homerun that brought home Vonfeldt and Willis.
"Kloe is such a force, she can do it with her legs, do it with her arm in the outfield, and do it with the pop in her bat," Shaw said.
Camryn Stickel earned her 14th victory of the season after throwing the complete game. Her freshman campaign in the circle now sits at 14-8 with a .636 win percentage. Stickel only allowed seven hits and one earned run to the Fighting Hawks, as well as adding two strikeouts in the game.
"Cam loved having the run support, it made it easier for her to throw with ease and enjoy a game with a little less stress," Shaw said.
The Roos will stay in North Dakota and extend their business trip to Fargo for the first round of The Summit League Softball Championship that will begin on Wednesday, May 12. Kansas City will be the four-seed in the tournament and face the fifth seeded South Dakota Coyotes at 3 p.m.
"We hope we are coming out of our hitting funk in time to make a run in the conference tournament," Head Coach Kerry Shaw said.
Game 1- Kansas City 2, North Dakota 1
Two seniors on the Kansas City squad were the unsung heroes in game three of the series. Lia Lombardini added the only RBI of the game that carried the team offensively to a victory. And Faith Willis made an outstretched diving play to her left to put a halt to a North Dakota rally and save a run.
"Faith saved game one for us defensively, she read the ball incredibly well and sold out when the game was on the line," Shaw said.
The Roos hopped on the bases early, scoring two in the first inning. Lombardini brought in the first run on a single to right field that scored Ally Vonfeldt. And once again, Willis used her speed and base running IQ to score on a wild pitch and give KC the early 2-0 lead.
A pitchers' duel settled in after the first frame. Neither team added a run until the sixth inning when North Dakota added a run and cut the Roos' lead in half.
"Mia goes out there every time and throws her heart out for her team," Shaw said. "She does what she can to be on top at the end and continues to do so even if she has had some tough breaks."
After Kansas City's two runs in the first inning, the defense took over behind Mia Hoveland's leadership in the circle. She earned her 13th victory this season and added seven more strikeouts to bring her to 180 on the season. Hoveland owned the mound in Grand Forks, ending her weekend with 15 strikeouts and only allowing four runs.
Game 2- Kansas City 7, North Dakota 1
Kansas City's offense was once again sparked by the bat of Lombardini who hit a triple to put the Roos on top early. Her blast down the left field line scored Willis, as well as herself on heads up base running to give the Roos the two-run lead in the second inning.
"Our seniors stepped up today, especially Lia at the plate," Shaw said. "We need her to breakout for the conference tournament."
The golden glove day continued for Willis who made her own human highlight reel in left field. She made diving catches, reaching catches, and threw runners out at home to keep North Dakota from gaining any momentum.
"Faith's throwing that runner out at the plate changed the momentum of the game," Shaw said. "She played it perfectly and it had to be perfect to get a girl out with that much speed."
In the middle of the game, the Roos brought out the muscles and went on a homerun hitting streak. The first homerun came in the fourth inning by Delainey Fenoglio who bombed a solo shot to give KC the 3-0 advantage. In the fifth inning, Kloe Hilbrenner decided she needed to top off her amazing weekend with another homerun. She finished the weekend 8-for-13 with two homeruns, three RBIS, two runs scored, and seven stolen bases. Then the senior Lombardini decided to put the game away with a three-run homerun that brought home Vonfeldt and Willis.
"Kloe is such a force, she can do it with her legs, do it with her arm in the outfield, and do it with the pop in her bat," Shaw said.
Camryn Stickel earned her 14th victory of the season after throwing the complete game. Her freshman campaign in the circle now sits at 14-8 with a .636 win percentage. Stickel only allowed seven hits and one earned run to the Fighting Hawks, as well as adding two strikeouts in the game.
"Cam loved having the run support, it made it easier for her to throw with ease and enjoy a game with a little less stress," Shaw said.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hoveland, Mia (13-13)
L: Lauren Feld (4-7)
Batting:
RBI: Lombardini, Lia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vonfeldt, Ally 1 ; Willis, Faith 1
SB: Hilbrenner, Kloe 1
HBP: Willis, Faith 1
Batting:
RBI: Chevelle Sartin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jailene Carpio 1
SB: Caitlyn Shumaker 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
1B
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC/UT
/ Softball
INF/UT
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