Red Storm softball completed a four-game Colorado road sweep and are in the midst of their longest winning streak of the season heading into conference play.
DSU swept Colorado Mesa University in a double-header in Grand Junction Tuesday Feb. 23. and have more than a week off before facing conference foe Azusa Pacific University Saturday.
“We really wanted to go 4-0 on this road trip, so going out and actually doing it is just awesome,” head coach Randy Simkins said.
The Storm trounced the Mavericks in game one as junior infielder Mallory Paulson turned in a dominating performance. Paulson went 4-4 from the plate, homered to left field and knocked in six RBI’s in the 12-1 victory.
“We’ve been really solid defensively,” Simkins said. “It’s nice to know that you can still go out there and put runs on the board too, though.”
Senior pitcher Aryn Feickert stepped into the circle for the win, striking out six batters and only allowing three hits as she advanced to 8-2 on the season.
The runs didn’t come as easily in game two, and the game remained scoreless well into the fourth inning before a DSU rally.
Sophomore outfielder Janessa Bassett started things off with an infield single followed by a double from freshman infielder Dani Bartholf. Junior outfielder Shelby Yung and freshman catcher Jessica Gonzalez had back-to-back RBI’s to put the first points on the board. Yung then caught the defense sleeping and stole home for the insurance run.
Junior pitcher Brooklyn Beardshear earned the win and moved to 2-1 this season after the seven-inning marathon. No one scored from that point on, and DSU came away with the 3-0 win, its fifth straight, to advance to 12-4 on the season.
“We’ve really come together as a team,” Yung said. “I think that’s a huge reason we’ve been more successful as of late, and I believe we will be able to compete at this high of a level throughout the season.”
The Storm will have some time to regroup before their conference slate opens up in Azusa, California against APU Friday and Saturday.
