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MIAA Championship Central

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Northeastern State softball team shook up the 2014 MIAA Championship by winning twice Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the Blue Valley Recreation Complex.
 
The RiverHawks (28-28), seeded No. 8 in the tournament and needing a 14-13 nine-inning win in the last game of the regular season just to qualify for the postseason, upset top-seeded and No. 13-ranked Emporia State (44-11) 3-2 in the first round. NSU followed that up by upsetting No. 4 seed Fort Hays State (29-19) 7-4 in the nightcap.
 
Northeastern State was a combined 0-4 against ESU and FHSU in the regular season. This also marked the first time in at least 14 years (MIAA record books only go back to 2000) that the No. 8 seed went 2-0 on the first day of competition.
 
NSU has now won three in a row, which is the first such streak in 23 games. Sophomore Kayce Wooldridge (16-11) picked up both wins for NSU in the circle. She tossed a complete game against the Hornets and entered as a relief pitcher to settle down proceedings against the Tigers.
 
Northeastern State will now face Missouri Western State University (36-16) at 3 p.m. May 2 in the semifinals of the tournament. The winner will move on to the MIAA Championship finals, while the loser will be relegated to the other half of the bracket and will have to play at 5 p.m. for the right to advance.

NORTHEASTERN STATE 3, #13 EMPORIA STATE 2 (box score)
NSU entered the opening contest as a heavy underdog, as the Hornets had won 10 of their last 11 games and were honored as the regular-season MIAA champions. The RiverHawks, meanwhile, had lost 16 of their last 18 coming into the tournament.
 
A Kaitlyn Caston RBI single plated Stephanie Goodwin in the bottom of the first, and the Hornets were on their way.
 
ESU, who sent its No. 2 starter into the circle, gave up three runs in the second frame on just two hits as Northeastern State found a 3-1 advantage. Senior Allyson Pogue led off the frame with her third-career home run. Sophomore Saharra Henson touched home on an infield error, and senior Navada Campos later scored on a bases loaded walk by junior Alyssa Aguilar.
 
Emporia State cut the lead in half in the fifth on a home run by Jacie Stephens, but Wooldridge slammed the door on the top seed and gave NSU just its second win in the MIAA Championship tournament (one last season).
 
NSU's two hits came from Pogue and Henson. Wooldridge allowed two runs on five hits. She struck out just one and walked one in 111 pitches.
 
Eryn Stockman (11-5) lasted just 1.2 frames before being replaced with Caston, the Hornets' top pitcher. Stockman suffered the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on just one hit. She walked three and struck out just one. Caston tossed the final 5.1 frames and only gave up one hit, while striking out five.
 
Jessica Gragg led ESU at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 7, FORT HAYS STATE 4 (box score)
Northeastern State made waves by posting the biggest upset of the tournament, and a second-straight shocker started early when the green and white threw three on the board in the top of the first.
 
Freshman Lauren Flanary kicked off the game with a single, and she advanced to second on a bunt hit from senior Madison Reed. They both scored on a home run from Aguilar, and the RiverHawks found themselves on top 3-0 before FHSU even had a chance to bat.
 
The Tigers chipped away at the advantage and quickly tied the game at 3-3 in the second. A single from Amanda Vaupel in the third plated Rilee Krier and gave Fort Hays State a 4-3 lead.
 
The Tigers swung the momentum in their favor and seemed primed to send NSU into the loser's bracket.
 
The RiverHawks, however, had other ideas. Reed drove home freshman Ryan Martin to tie the game in the fourth, and Henson hit a two-RBI single in the top of the fifth to put NSU ahead 6-4. Henson later scored on an infield error hit by Martin to push the score to what would be the final 7-4 margin.
 
Wooldridge was called upon to throw long relief after senior Shelbie Wagnon struggled in the circle. Wagnon lasted just 1.1 innings, conceding three runs on just two hits. Wooldridge gave up eight hits in 5.2 innings, but only one base runner crossed home plate on her watch.
 
Aguilar finished with three RBI, while Reed, Pogue and Henson all had two hits.
 
Bianca Adame, Samantha Villarreal and Vaupel paced the Tiger offense with two hits apiece. Kelsey Kimminau (10-8) suffered the loss in the circle after conceding seven runs on nine hits across 4.1 frames. Paxton Duran tossed the final 2.2 innings and did not give up a run.
 
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