Eagles all smiles after sweep of Waseca

The Eagles took Game 1 by a score of 23-0 in four innings before ending the second game with a 15-0 win in five innings.

Game 1 ended in four innings due to the 15-run lead rule.

The Eagles wracked up 17 hits in Game 1 and had a pair of eight-run innings in the first and third.

Ramsey Hopp got the Game 1 win in two innings of work, striking out six while allowing two walks and no hits. Abby Rathmann pitched two innings in relief, striking out two while allowing two walks and no hits.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm’s Abby Rathmann delivers a pitch during the first game of a Big South Conference doubleheader against Waseca on Friday at New Ulm High School.

The New Ulm bats were led in Game 1 by Natalie Bianchi and Maddie Backer, who both went 3 for 3. Bianchi added a pair of doubles and five RBIs, while Backer had an RBI, three runs scored and five stolen bases. Also in Game 1 for New Ulm, Kenzie Enter was 3 for 4 with a double, five RBIs and three runs scored, while Berkley Wilfahrt was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored and Bridgette Roiger was 2 for 4 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored.

In the Eagles’ first eight-run inning of the opener, a Backer single and stolen base started things before Enter singled in Backer for a 1-0 lead. A wild pitch scored Enter before Hopp took a walk. With one out, Bianchi singled to left to score a run before a walk by Lauren Schmiesing put runners on first and second.

Waseca got another out on a strikeout before Roiger sent a fly ball to left that snuck just over the top of the charging left fielder’s glove to bring two more runs in and put Roiger on third for a 5-0 lead. Roiger scored on a wild pitch for a 6-0 lead. After Wilfahrt walked, Backer singled in a run and Enter doubled in one for an 8-0 lead.

The Eagles batted around in all three innings they hit.

The Eagles kept making contact in the second but benefited on three errors to help score seven more runs and lead 15-0 after two. They then collected nine hits in the third, led by an RBI single by pinch hitter Hadley Batt, a two-run single by Enter and a two-run double by Bianchi.

Rathmann, who pitched a hitless third while walking one, started the fourth with a walk before a groundout, strikeout and another groundout ended the game early.

Rathmann got the five-inning shutout in Game 2, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out three. The game was called in five due to the 10-run lead rule.

The Eagles scored four in the second inning, two in both the third and fourth and then seven in the fifth. Schmiesing was 2 for 2 with three stolen bases and a walk in that second game, while Enter was 2 for 3 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Wilfahrt was 2 for 4, while Roiger added a two-run double in the third inning and Mya Hornick had a double and a run scored.

New Ulm, now 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference, travel to Andover for a doubleheader that starts at 1:30 p.m. Andover is currently the Minnesota High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association’s No. 8 team in Class AAAA.