The thunder and rain couldn’t stop the softball team from celebrating their seven seniors’ hard work in the last four years at WSC’s “Senior Day.”

A “Senior Day” ceremony was scheduled for this past Saturday in between games at the doubleheader against St. Cloud State University, but due to thunderstorms, the games got pushed back to Sunday.

After the first game, which was a disappointing loss of 3-2 for the Wildcats, it got pretty emotional on the field when the entire team watched as the seniors lined up with their parents to salute goodbye to Wayne State Softball. Gifts were presented by the lower classmen to show their appreciation to the seniors for their time dedicated towards the team in their time spent at Wayne.

“I’m in disbelief,” senior Alex Schmidt said. “I know the season is coming to an end, but I just can’t believe it’s so close. Softball has been the thing I have done basically my whole life, and I can’t believe it’s just going to end like the snap of a finger.”

The ‘Cats came back after the ceremony to beat St. Cloud in the bottom of the seventh inning when junior Sam O’Brien hit a single with the bases loaded to give WSC the game-winning run.

“That win was definitely something we needed,” senior Kaiti Williams said. “The only way we can win these last games and get to the post season is with a full team effort and everyone playing their best. We need to focus on one game at a time because each game here on out is important to make it far in the conference tournament.”

The Wildcats continued to put out a team effort when they swept the University of Minnesota, Duluth on Monday. With these wins, WSC improves to 29-17 for the season and 14-10 in conference play, while UMD drops to 27-20 and 11-13 in NSIC play.
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, the ‘Cats played another NSIC doubleheader against Sioux Falls, taking almost six hours to complete the two games.

The first game was a slugfest for both teams, WSC ending with 19 hits, while Sioux Falls finished the game with 11 hits, giving the Wildcats a 13-7 win over the Cougars.

The second game, however, was much closer. Even though both teams still ended up with a high number of hits, the number of runs scored stayed low, with a final of 3-2 for Sioux Falls after eight innings of play.

WSC has only three more conference game doubleheaders left in the season, all of which will be played later this week.

“We need to focus on one game at a time this next week,” Williams said. “A team can’t look too far ahead, it’s finding a way to win the game in front of you that matters.”

“It’s bitter sweet to be this close to the end,” senior Jordan King said. “I don’t want to stop playing. I’m going to miss the game and my teammates when it’s over.”

The seniors will play their final home game today (Wednesday) against Upper Iowa.

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Sioux Falls

Game 1

Wayne State…………… 002 421 4 – 13 19 1

Sioux Falls…………….. 041 002 0 – 7 11 1

Win – Miller, C. (7-3). Loss – Black, B. (9-8).

2B – O’Brien, S.. 3B – Loos, L..

HR – King, J.; Williams, K.; Bormann, K..

Game 2

Wayne State…………. 000 002 00 – 2 9 5

Sioux Falls……………. 010 001 01 – 3 10 1

Win – Netty, A. (11-7). Loss – Bormann, K. (13-8).

2B – Loos, L.. HBP – Bormann, K.; Hagemann, M..

Washburn (Non-Conference)

Game 1

Washburn……………… 220 001 20 – 7 5 1

Wayne State………….. 000 100 0X – 1 6 1

Win – Thimmesch,L. (18-6). Loss – Scheffert, S (5-5).

2B – Quimby,M.(6); Loos, L. 2(12); Williams, K.(13).

HR – Marsteller,H(4).

Game 2

Washburn……………… 000 040 1 – 5 10 3

Wayne State…………… 002 122 X – 7 10 1

Win – Miller, C. (8-3). Loss – Kemp,T. (2-5).

2B – Williams, K.(14); Alyea, Me.(6); Hagemann, M.(2).

HR – Merriman,C.(10); Williams, K.(3).

St. Cloud

Game 1

St. Cloud State…….. 200 100 0 – 3 6 0

Wayne State…………. 100 100 0 – 2 7 0

Win – Franks, K (12-5). Loss – Scheffert, S (5-6).

2B – DeBoer, T. 3B – Loos, L.; Williams, K..

Game 2

St. Cloud State……… 010 000 0 – 1 4 1

Wayne State………….. 100 000 1 – 2 7 1

Win – Bormann, K. (14-8). Loss – Francesconi, (5-10).

2B – Thomas, T. SH – Novak, J; Fitch, K; King, J.; Schropp, A..

Duluth

Game 1

Minnesota Duluth….. 120 001 0 – 4 12 2

Wayne State…………. 250 010 X – 8 12 1

Win – Scheffert, S (6-6). Loss – Sadler,C. (15-10).

2B – Smith, B.; Williams, K.. 3B – Bormann, K..

HR – Williams, K..

Minnesota Duluth….. 100 000 0 – 1 5 4

Wayne State…………… 000 080 X – 8 8 0

Win – Bormann, K. (15-8). Loss – Hartmann,S. (11-10).

2B – Schropp, A..

3B – Hagemann, M..