The Parkside softball team completed a highly-successful weekend on Sunday, which was the final day of the Rosemont Dome Tournament. The Rangers dominated No. 17 Winona State 11-1 to open the day and then the team used a 4-run seventh inning to comeback and stun Missouri S&T 4-3 in the final game. The Rangers finished the weekend 5-1 with a team ERA of just 2.00.
 
HEAR FROM COACH ORTMAN
"It was a great opening weekend for us," fourth year head coach Kristin Ortman said. "The team had a huge win against #14 Winona today. We put all three of the parts together; pitching, fielding and offense. We are excited to keep the program moving forward." 
 
GAME 1: Parkside 11, #14 Winona State 1
The Rangers dominated the Warriors, scoring 10 runs in the final four innings and finishing with 14 hits combined. Senior Allison Hausl pitched another great game, improving to 2-1 on the season after allowing just one run on eight hits with two strikeouts. Sophomore Kiley Akey pitched the final 2.0 innings without a blemish to earn her second save of the season.
 
Parkside opened the game up with a run right away in the top of the first off an Alyssa Laxson RBI single that scored senior Adrien Hall, putting the pressure on the Warriors early on. An RBI double by junior Jessica Miklos and an RBI single by junior Morgan Moore made it 3-0 Parkside before seniors Jessica Crull and Megan Aliverti had back-to-back solo home runs, the first home runs of the season for Parkside.
 
The Warriors got on the board in the fifth, but Parkside kept piling on the runs, using a Hall RBI double in the sixth and then scored five runs in the seventh. Freshman Dani Evans hit an RBI single, followed by a Moore two-run double and a Hall two-run single.
 
The middle of the lineup was key for the Rangers, as Hall went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI, Crull went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double and Aliverti finished 2-for-4 with a home run.
 
GAME 2: Parkside 4, Missouri S&T 3
The Rangers looked down-and-out heading into the seventh inning down 3-0, but the team got clutch two-run singles from a pair of seniors in Hall and Aliverti to comeback and earn the win. Senior Alyssa McClelland finished out the weekend earning another win to start 3-0 for the Rangers.
 
In the seventh, Moore hit a one-out single to get things going, followed by back-to-back walks from junior Cassidy Prucha and senior Cassie Walek to load the bases. After a pitching change, Hall drilled a two-run single to center field to make it 3-2 Miners. After a strikeout, Aliverti came through with the Rangers biggest hit of the young season with a two-run single down the right field line to give the Rangers the lead. The Miners put the tying run on second base in the bottom of the seventh, but McClelland pitched out of it.
 
Hall went 1-for-2 with two RBI, two stolen bases and a two walks while Aliverti finished 1-for-4 with two RBI. Hausl went 1-for-2 with a double. McClelland's final line was 7.0 innings, eight hits, three runs (two earned) with six strikeouts.
 
WEEKEND STATS
As a team, Parkside hit .284 with Crull and Evans leading the way at .400 and .368, respectively. Aliverti led the team with five RBI while Walek scored a team-high five runs. McClelland is now 3-0 with a 0.67 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 21.0 innings with 14 strikeouts. Akey earned a pair of saves while Hausl is 2-1 with a 3.87 ERA in 12.2 innings.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will hit the road and play outdoors for the first time in 2020 next weekend, facing Maryville on Feb. 28 and Lindenwood on Feb. 29 and March 1.