MANKATO, Minn. — Sunday's doubleheader split results ended the Minnesota State DII Softball Classic and first weekend of competition in the Joe Yegge era, continuing with the consistent trend of Griffon Softball getting out to early leads.

Game 1

For the fourth-straight game, the Griffons grabbed an early lead in the bottom of the second thanks to Bubba Hoelscher's first hit of her collegiate career. Grace Beseman and Concordia-St. Paul pushed right back in the top of third with a two-run homer off of MWSU pitcher Sydney Rader. The Griffons tied things back up at 2-2 with a Sydni Hawkins RBI groundout to score Emma Hoffart in the fifth inning.

The Golden Bears immediately bounced back with two runs in the sixth, going ahead 4-2. Missouri Western put runners on first and second in the seventh thanks to back-to-back singles by Hawkins and Hoffart, but Rachel Stewart flew out to right field to end the game. This is MWSU's second defeat to Concordia-St. Paul this weekend after losing 4-3 on Friday. 

Game 2
Like clockwork, MWSU took the first lead of the game against Lewis University. The bottom of the first saw Hawkins slash a single up the middle to score Hoffart. Later in the third, Rian Gere started a wild sequence that started with an error at second base.

Taylor Hoelscher and Rachel Stewart both scored while the Golden Bears threw out Gere at second, putting MWSU up 3-0. The play went 9-2-4 with Concordia-St. Paul settling for the out at second after failing to nab the other Griffon baserunners. 

Hawkins continues to hound pitchers, doing so again with an RBI single in the fourth that once again scored Hoffart. The 2021 MIAA Player of the Year ended this weekend with eight RBI in just five games, building on her bat's boisterous reputation.

Speaking of boisterous bats, Brea Blanton blasted MWSU's first home run of 2022 with a two-run shot that scored Gere in the fifth. Two more runs knocked in by Kalyn Damgaard later in the fifth enacted the eight-run-mercy rule, giving MWSU an 8-0 win and its first shutout this season. Natalie Kissinger pitched all five innings, giving up only three hits and striking out five with no walks.

On to Arkansas 

After going 2-3 this weekend, Missouri Western starts the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in this upcoming weekend in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Griffons play a doubleheader on Friday, facing Illinois-Springfield (0-0) at 11 a.m. and then Harding (3-1) at 1 p.m.