The Owatonna softball team had a chance to do some damage in the race to the Big 9 Conference title on Thursday night. The Huskies hosted Class AAA No. 6 ranked Mankato West with two chances at the Scarlets in a doubleheader at Federated Park.
Owatonna dropped the first of the two games in a close 3-2 loss, before using a big fourth inning during the second game to record an 8-0 shutout for West’s second Big 9 loss of the season.
Game One: West 3, Owatonna 2
Despite 21 hits combined between the two teams, the first game was a low-scoring contest with no more than one run being scored in an inning and a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh being the difference maker.
West used RBI singles in the top of the first and second innings to take an initial 2-0 lead. Kendra Bogen answered back for the Huskies by hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the third. Keeli Doran singled in the bottom of the fourth, got to third on a Mehsa Krause double and tagged up to tie the game on a sac fly from Danika Ringhofer.
Owatonna ace Kennedy Hodgman and the defense backing her kept the Scarlets off the scoreboard since the second inning, but a sac fly to left field helped West take the lead at the very end.
Krause, Zoie Roush and Izzy Radel recorded two hits and Doran, Kendra Bogen, Samantha Bogen and Taya Selbrade recorded one hit each. Hodgman recorded three strikeouts in her seven innings of pitching.
Game Two: Owatonna 8, West 0
While the Huskies weren’t able to turn the hits into runs, an RBI single from Radel to drive in Averie Roush for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third was just the appetizer for what was to come for the Huskies in game two.
Lilly Trager helped Owatonna start a big two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth with a single, which loaded up the bases with Selbrade and Krause already on thanks to a single and a fielder’s choice.
Junior outfielder Preslee Hodgman got a single to drop near right field to bring Selbrade and Krause for two RBIs and a 3-0 lead. Radel immediately followed by beating a throw to first on a slow grounder, which allowed courtesy-running Averie Roush to score.
Kendra Bogen continued having plenty of success against Scarlet pitching after the sophomore hit a hard liner past the second baseman and into the gap for a two-RBI, standup triple. Zoie Roush didn’t let her stay on base for very long with an RBI single into left field closing out a six-run inning for the Huskies.
The icing on the cake for Owatonna came in the bottom of the sixth with Selbrade beating a throw to first and driving Zoie Roush in for its eighth run of the game.
Trager and the defense played a big role in keeping the Scarlets at Bay. The junior pitcher only recorded one strikeout in seven innings, but gave up just one walk, five hits and no runs for the shutout victory.
Offensively, Selbrade and Krause finished with three hits each, Radel, Doran, Kendra Bogen and Zoie Roush recorded two hits each and Trager and Preslee Hodgman recorded one hit each. Radel, Bogen and Hodgman all recorded two RBIs each.
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