
Gorilla Softball hosted a tri against Winona State University and Drury University. On Saturday Feb. 19th, the Gorillas got off to a tough start, losing to the Warriors 0-9. After that loss, they battled back hard and beat the Panthers 8-7. On Sunday Feb.20th though, they started off the day beating Winona 13-1, taking revenge on the day before. They struggled against Drury though, losing 3-8.
On Saturday, they started off slow against the Warriors. It was an even 0-0 tie going into the fourth, before Winona would take the first score in the fourth. After that, the Warriors scored at least 1 point each inning. The Gorillas struggled to put points on the board, and after being down 0-9 in the bottom of the 7th, they ended the game.
After the devastating loss, the Gorillas fought back against the Panthers. The game started off with the Panthers taking a 3-0 lead after the top of the second. Pitt fought back quickly, getting their first scores of the day with a 2-run inning. After going back and forth on runs, Pitt faced a 5-7 deficit heading into the bottom of the 7th. They weren’t about to lose though, and scored 3 runs in the bottom to take the win.
“It felt awesome to get that last second win, as they swept us last year. It was great as Kami Zimmerman got the last run to take the win, and she’s a 5th year senior so it was great as she is a huge asset to our team,” said sophomore utility player Paxtyn Hayes.
Sunday started off better for the Gorillas, taking a big win and run ruling the Warriors. The game started off slow, having a tie at 1-1 going into the bottom of the third. After that inning, Pitt had a great time scoring an impressive 7 runs in just one inning. They would proceed to score 5 more in the fourth, and after the defensive end held the Warriors to only 1 run, the game was ended after the 5th inning.
“It felt really good to run rule Winona State, as they are a very good team and we got our revenge after losing on Saturday,” Hayes said.
After that win, the Gorillas lost that energy. They went into their last game against the Panthers slow, after starting the two first innings scoreless. Pitt would then allow 8 runs in three innings, but not before scoring their own 3 runs. The game would remain scoreless after the fifth inning, handing the gorillas their second loss on the weekend.
“Even though we did lose two games this weekend, I couldn’t be any prouder than our performance because they were both really good teams,” Hayes said.
Softball will play their next set of games this coming weekend in the Washburn Invitational Tournament, Feb.25th-27th. They will play The University of Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State University, St. Cloud State University, Wayne State University, and The University of Minnesota Crookston.