The Washburn Ichabod softball team (4-5) went on the road for the second straight weekend. On a two day, four game outing at the Winona State Dome Classic, Washburn defeated Northern State University 4-0 before dropping to No. 23 Winona State 8-6 on Friday. They went 1-1 on Saturday, rallying for an 8-4 win in nine innings against Upper Iowa the first game while falling 7-2 to Northern State the second game.

In the first game, Washburn battled the entire game as it went into extra innings; scoring in the top of the eigth inning. Taylor Zimmerman was placed on second due to extra inning rules, then advanced to third on a single up the middle from Ashley Ruder. Ruder scored on a throwing error by Northern State, pushing WU up in the frame 1-0.

Erin Keeney followed with a 3 run blast to right center putting the Ichabod’s up 4-0.

NSU failed to score in the bottom of the eighth after Samantha Carson pitched a gem, throwing a complete game shutout striking out four and walking one, improving her record to 2-1 on the season.

In the second game the bats did not seem to go well for Washburn until later in the game as they could not complete the late game rally. Washburn saw themselves in a deep hole after Winona State scored a solo run in the top of the first and then added four more in the second and three in the third, leading to an 8-0 early lead over the Ichabods. However, Washburn tried to get the momentum going as they scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a 2-RBI single by Sierra Kemp, scoring Haylee Marsteller and Zimmerman, which was followed by Marina Quimby’s ground out that scored Lacie Myers, pulling Washburn within 8-3. Ruder’s single to right scored Kemp cutting the Warrior lead in half.

In the fifth, Washburn grabbed two more runs when Erin Keeney scored on a wild pitch and Marsteller’s ground out scored Zimmerman. With the 8-6 deficit, the Ichabods had a runner on in the seventh but came up short. Zimmerman was 2 for 3 with two doubles while scoring two runs and Sierra Kemp drove in a pair of runs.

Marsteller finished 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

On Saturday, the Ichabods woke up with a new mindset and were able to come out with the clutch 8-4 win in nine innings against Upper Iowa in the opener, recording four runs in the ninth. Down 3-0 in the top of the fifth, Myers hit for an RBI single scoring Marsteller with Keeney scoring on a fielding error. In the sixth, Quimby raced home for another run on an RBI single by Keeney tying the game. In extra innings for the second time in two days, the Ichabods took an eighth inning lead 4-3. Quimby took advantage of an Upper Iowa error and scored. Before they could blink, UIU struck back in the bottom of the eighth tying the score back at 4-4. That’s when Washburn scored four times in the top of the ninth capped by a 2-RBI single by Cassidy Merriman and Lexie Myers. Carson hung in there for another complete game, scattering 10 hits, striking out four.

In the final game of the weekend, down 7-0 after four innings, WU didn’t have a rally in the bag this time in the loss to Northern State. They had a few chances in the game with runners on base, capitalizing in the sixth inning when Merriman hit a 2-run homer scoring Megan Stegman, accounting for Washburn’s only runs of the game.

Washburn will begin conference play against Lincoln University of Missouri at 2 p.m. Friday, March 4.