Lady Spartans Split with #7 Anoka Ramsey

The Lady Spartans used outstanding pitching by Tarryn Justesen and homeruns by Lindsey Dierks, Haley Poehler and Amber Boese for a 5-1 game one victory. The Lady Spartans led game two 10-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning but committed three errors and allowed five runs to score losing game two 11-10.

"It tells you how far the program has come to be disappointed with a road split against a nationally ranked team and one of the top teams in the state" said head coach Steve King. "We played so well and had our opportunities to win game two but we just didn't make a play in the bottom of the seventh. We committed three errors in that inning. We haven't committed three errors in a game all season let alone one inning. I will give our players credit. It's finals week and all of them are very good students and had finals to complete before we hopped on the bus. They were still able to compete at a very high level and come away with a road split."

In game one, the Lady Spartans jumped to a quick 1-0 lead on a single and stolen base by Haley Poehler. She would come around to score on and error. In the second inning, Lindsey Dierks led off the inning with a homerun for a 2-0 lead. Sam Lupkes singled and Poehler connected for her first homerun of the year for a 4-0 Lady Spartan lead. Amber Boese hit a solo shot in the top of the third to make the score 5-0. 

That would be all Lady Spartan pitcher Tarryn Justesen would need to notch her 15th win of the season. She was helped by outstanding defensive play, especially by shortstop Doranna Blascyk who turned in several great defensive plays. Justesen struck out 9 batters in the game and currently has 145 strikeouts in 115 innings. The 145 strikeouts puts her second in the nation among all pitchers for strikeouts.

The Lady Spartans stayed hot to open game two, scoring six first inning runs. Blascyk and Sidney Imsande had RBI singles and Ally Jensen drilled a two run double to the right center field gap. Cailey Bryant scored Jensen with a single and the Lady Spartan 6-0 lead.

Justesen was not quite as sharp in game two and Anoka Ramsey is a heavy hitting team. They scored two runs in the bottom of the first to make the score 6-2. The Lady Spartans answered scoring three more in their half of the second. They were helped by some defensive mistakes by Anoka Ramsey and an RBI single by Boese for a 9-2 lead.

Anoka Ramsey added three in the bottom of the second to make the score 9-5. In the third inning, Blascyk replaced Justesen at pitcher and kept the score 9-5. Imsande launched a solo shot in the top of the fourth to make the score 10-5 Lady Spartans. Anoka Ramsey added a single fourth inning run to make the score 10-6. The Lady Spartans had opportunities to add to the lead but could not come up with the clutch hit and the score stayed 10-6 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. 

The Lady Spartans, who have played such great defense all year, committed three errors in the inning, That combined with three Anoka Ramsey hits allowed them to score five times in the bottom of the seventh for the 11-10 win.

Blascyk threw well but took the loss for the Lady Spartans. The split gives the Lady Spartans a 19-5 record overall and 12-5 in the division. They play the #3 ranked team in the nation, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, in St. Cloud on Thursday. Game time is 3:30.