(KWMN)- The Warrior softball team began their post-season campaign yesterday in the first round of the NSIC tournament.
Warriors claimed the three seed in the tournament and faced Concordia St. Paul in the first round. Senior Liz Pautz got the call to start the game, but uncharacteristically struggled early on, allowing five earned runs in two innings pitched. The Warriors were in a hole from there, down 5-0 after two innings, they only managed to score two runs before the sixth. In the top of the sixth Concordia extended their 5-2 lead, to 7-2. Hope was dwindling for the Warriors until a 2-run bomb by Abby Hlas in the bottom of the 6th catapulted the Warriors confidence. They loaded the bases up after the Hlas homer as Libby Neveau stepped to the plate and cranked the ball over the fence to sneak past the Golden Bears 8-7. Pautz returned to the circle in the 7th to get the save, freshman Abby Smith credited for the win in relief.
I spoke with senior pitcher Liz Pautz before the matchup today and asked her what changed in the middle of that sixth inning, “We actually had one of our sophomores, Carly Engelhardt, she came in (the dugout) and said, ‘we’re gonna get ahead here, we’re gonna score some more runs in the 7th, we’re gonna win this thing,'” Pautz said of Engelhardt. That was the moment for the Warriors that turned the game around. After Engelhardt said that in the dugout, Pautz described it as everyone ‘clicked’ and realized this game isn’t over and they can really win this thing. Of course, we now know, they did win and as accurate as Engelhardt was, they didn’t really need the 7th. Pautz returned the mound in the seventh to earn the save. Something that is far from easy, especially after getting bested in the first two innings.
“It was good to kind of get a break (from pitching), just because I think I was in probably the worst mental state I was all season in that game…but knowing I had to come back into the later innings of the game. I knew I could control what I could, I wasn’t going let the umpire determine the kind of game I was throwing…and that’s ultimately what helped me be successful.” Pautz said when asked about the struggle of having to go back into the game and get the save.
Coming into the tournament, the Warriors ranked 8th in the regional rankings. Outside of automatic qualifiers (conference tournament winners) only the top six teams make it to the regional tournament. The Warriors are currently on the outside looking in, Liz Pautz knows that more than anyone, “we’re going to try and make it easy on ourselves and just win the conference tournament,” Pautz said.
Pautz added that the team somewhat pays attention to the regional rankings, yet even if they weren’t in the last regional ranking it wouldn’t matter. They would still have the same mindset going into the conference tournament. The mindset being, to win it.
Pautz is fresh off of one of the best seasons a pitcher can have. Earning honors that include, First team All-Conference, Elite 18, and outstanding senior of the year award (NSIC). Garnering the second most wins in the conference at 23, she also led the conference in strikeouts, complete games and was second in shutouts. An astounding year without question, but Pautz isn’t worried about personal achievements, she’s got her eyes on the real prize, the national title, “We want to make it as far into this post-season run as we can and win a national championship.”
Warriors will face Minnesota State-Mankato in the quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament. First pitch from Rochester today at 12:00 p.m. The Warriors and Mavericks faced off in a doubleheader earlier in the year where Mankato took both, 1-0 then 4-3.
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