By: Collin Rutkowski / @CRutkowski37 / sports@kvsc.org / Photo by SCSU Athletics

St. Cloud State came into the Washburn Invite with a 5-0 record. That would not be the case after this last weekend in Topeka, Kansas.

Game One: St. Cloud State 4, Nebraska at Kearney 7.

The Huskies would start off the weekend facing one of those teams they have yet to beat, Nebraska-Kearney. State would send Lauren Kirchberg to the mound for her first start of the season. The game would be scoreless through two innings, but the Lopers would plate four runs in the top of the 3^rd start the scoring. St. Cloud would answer back with a 2-RBI single from Sydney Trees who would later score on a wild pitch to cut the lead down to one. Kirchberg would 4 1/3 innings and give way to Sydney Lapoint. Kearney would add a two more runs in the 6^th and another in the 7^th to push the lead back to four. Sydney Trees would try to get a rally going in the bottom of the 7^th driving in Maya Keating, but SCSU would drop Game 1 7-4 as Trees went 2-4 with 3-RBI’s.

Game Two: St. Cloud State 1, Pittsburg State 2.

The second game of the day for SCSU on Friday would have both pitchers go the distance. Kylie Thomsen toed the rubber going six innings allowing two runs. Pittsburg State would get a 2-RBI double from senior Madison Wegner in the 2^nd to open the scoring. In the 5^th, Jasmin Estrada scores Megan Conrads with a single, but the Huskies would drop the second game of the Washburn Invite while leaving eight runners on base.

Game Three: St. Cloud State 8, Emporia State 0.

The offense would come alive in the first game on Saturday with the Huskies finishing off the Hornets in 6 innings. St. Cloud would open the scoring in the Bottom of the 1^st with a Megan Conrads RBI double and a 2-run shot from Jasmin Estrada to push the lead to 3-0. The cardinal and black would use small ball tactics to add four runs in the third with Brooke Bowlin driving accounting for three out of the four runs. With the score reading 7-0 in the 6^th, they only needed one more run to end the game, and with Bowlin scoring on a wild pitch, the game would end 8-0. Trinity Junker went four scoreless innings picking up her first collegiate victory.

Game Four: St. Cloud State 4, Central Missouri 6.

In the fourth game of the weekend, the Huskies would face the Mules of Central Missouri who have were 8-0 in games against St. Cloud State. The UCM would draw first blood in the opening inning, but Bowlin and Kaitlyn Istvanovich would each grab RBI’s in the 2^nd to take the lead. The Mules and Huskies would trade runs in the 3^rd and SCSU would another in the 5^th to make it 4-2. With two innings to go, and State only leading by two runs, Central Missouri would score a run in the 6^th and three in the 7^th to regain the lead. St. Cloud would go one, two, three in the bottom half the inning and fall in Game 4. Kirchberg, Lapoint, and Thomsen would all be tagged for two runs in the losing effort.

Game Five: St. Cloud State 11, Fort Hays 9.

With the SCSU unable to come out of Kansas with a winning weekend, they would look to end on a high note before heading back to St. Cloud on Sunday. In what would be a high scoring affair, the score would only read 2-2 through four innings. The Huskies would take the lead in the 5^th with a solo shot by Sydney Trees, but the Tigers would plate seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to jump up 9-3. It would be all St. Cloud State the rest of the way as they would answer with a 7-run inning of their own. Led by a 3-run homerun by Alexandra Pinkowski, the cardinal and black would defeat Fort Hays by a score of 11-9. Pinkowski would end up with a batting line of 2-4 with 4-RBI and both of her hits being homeruns. Trinity Junker also picked up her first save in NCAA play.

The Huskies now have a record of 7-3 and will head to Florida starting on Friday to play in twelve total games.