Midland sweeps weekend

To keep afloat in the hunt for a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) title, the Midland Lutheran softball team needed sweeps in two doubleheaders over the weekend.

Not only did the Lady Warriors get those wins, they got a little confidence back as well.

On Saturday, Midland grabbed two wins over Dordt College. On Sunday, the team claimed two victories over Mount Marty College, winning the first game 9-2 and the nightcap 3-2. The wins bring Midland’s record to 7-3 in conference play, placing them two games back from conference-leading Dana College.

"We had a very good weekend," Midland coach Keith Kramme said. "There were times we didn’t do things fundamentally very well, but overall I’m very pleased with the effort of the weekend and we got the four wins we needed. Now we can head into the last two weeks of the season and build on that confidence."

In the second game against Mount Marty, Midland took a 3-0 lead into the top of the seventh inning, but Mount Marty threatened.

Four hits helped push two runs across. With two on and two out, pitcher Kelly Sladek got freshman Katrina Kirby to line out to Midland’s Jessie Smith end the game.

Sladek tossed a five-hit complete game. Sladek also claimed a win in the second game against Dordt. She threw a five-hitter with seven strikeouts during a 1-0 win.

Kramme praised Midland’s pitchers for their weekend performances.

"We asked a lot out of Rachel (Theis) and Kelly on the mound," Kramme said. "They came through. Kelly had a lot better movement yesterday and today than she did on Thursday when we played Morningside. She made no excuses about it and just said things weren’t working. She’s a competitor and she’s going to work on it and come back with a stronger mental approach and she did that."

In the second game against Mount Marty, Midland jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and added a second run in the top of the third inning.

Katy Perry started the inning with a single. Junior Nichole Hrban followed suite. After a fielder’s choice got Hrban to third, she scored on an error to grab a 2-0 lead.

Midland added a final run in the next inning when Hrban’s sacrifice scored Kayla Gataivasa. Hrban went 2-for- 3 with an RBI in the game. Freshman Erinn Brue also had two hits.

In the first game, with the game tied at two, Midland exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to get the 9-2 win.

Senior Kate Schwarz went 3-for4 with four RBIs, including home runs in the fourth and a three-run shot in th3 sixth inning.

Hrban chipped in two RBIs on two hits and Brue also got an RBI on a hit. Theis got the win on the mound, giving up four hits and striking out four.

"We had some pretty good at-bats today and Saturday," Kramme said. "It was a 2-2 ball game going into the sixth inning of the first game today and we erupted. Overall I was very pleased. Kate had a tremendous day today and we had a lot of people step up and do a lot of good things."

On Saturday, Theis got the shutout on the mound in the first game as Midland beat Dordt 6-0. The sophomore struck out eight and gave up four hits. Theis also helped herself at the plate with two RBIs.

In the second game, Midland took a 1-0 win. Freshman Abby Greberts single scored Gataivasa in the bottom of the fourth inning with the lone run.

Midland takes on Doane College in a doubleheader at 5 Tuesday afternoon at Christensen Field. The make-up games are the final home games of the season for the Lady Warriors.