BISMARCK, N.D. - On a day where seniors and breast cancer victims and survivors were honored, it was junior transfer Shawnee Zink who stole the show as she smashed a walk-off grand slam to lift the University of Mary Softball team to a split this afternoon against St. Cloud State University.
 
The Marauders (17-33, 11-18 NSIC) dropped game one to the Huskies (25-28, 11-17 NSIC) at 3-1 due to an anemic offense, but rallied in the bottom of the seventh in game two with bases loaded and one out as Zink skied the ball deep to right center to end U-Mary's season on a high note with a 5-2 win.
 
GAME ONE
 
The first game was relatively quiet as it turned into a pitcher's duel of sorts between Brieann Backes and Megan Hedstrom with both pitchers holding the other team scoreless through the first three innings of the game.
 
St. Cloud State broke through the fog first in the top of the fourth after Tricia DeBoer drove a hard groundball to the shortstop that allowed Jessica Goerger to score, while Alyssa Coletto scored on a double steal attempt during the next at bat as Goerger willingly entered into a rundown between first and second but ended up at second anyways when the dust settled.
 
Both runners were unearned in the inning as Goerger reached on a fielding error by the shortstop and ended up scoring the first run with two outs, allowing the Huskies to capitalize on the Marauder miscue.
 
St. Cloud State added another run in the top of the sixth after Deboer singled to right center to score Coletto from second base to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Marauders pushed their lone run across in the bottom of the sixth after Alexandra McDermott and Lex Hubbard led off the inning with back-to-back singles, but a fielder's choice groundball from Alana Norman kept the runners on base count at two after McDermott was retired at third base.
 
After starting pitcher Megan Hedstrom recorded a fly ball out from the next batter, Amber Gamboa drove a single to right field to score Hubbard from second base to narrow the gap to 3-1, but the inning ended with a fizzle after the wind kept Taylor Mendez's fly ball to center field from heading over the fence to keep the Marauders facing a 3-1 deficit going into the seventh inning.
 
The Marauders found themselves in a bit of a jam in the top of the seventh but quickly fought their way out of it as Mendez, Zink, and Demaree Rodriguez permanently earned a spot in U-Mary's record books.
 
A pair of errant throws allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base, while an awkward fielder's choice groundball loaded them up with nobody out, as the Huskies were dangerously close to opening the flood gates in the inning.
 
With the infield playing in, Rebecca Harps poked a soft line drive out to Mendez at second base and the Marauder made a split-second dive to squeeze the first out, meanwhile, the runners at first and second soon found themselves far out of position as Mendez quickly stood up to assess the situation.
 
Mendez tossed the ball over to Zink covering third base to record the second out, and Zink made the quick throw over to Rodriguez covering first to complete the first recorded triple play for U-Mary in the NCAA era. No triple play had occurred prior to today's game since U-Mary made the transition to Division-II back in 2006.
 
Unfortunately, the brilliant defensive play would go to waste as Hedstrom closed out the complete game effort with a near-perfect seventh inning to clinch game one for the Huskies at 3-1.
 
The loss, combined with Southwest Minnesota State University's win over Upper Iowa University in the first game of their doubleheader, meant U-Mary's postseason hopes were officially dashed and would be on the outside looking for the second year in a row.
 
The Marauders were limited to five hits over the course of the game as Amber Gamboa, Colleen Crutchfield, Alexandra McDermott, Shawnee Zink, and Lex Hubbard all recorded singles in the first game.
 
Brieann Backes took the complete game loss as she went seven innings and gave up only five hits as well while striking out two Huskies.
 
GAME TWO
 
Despite being eliminated from postseason contention, the Marauders never stopped fighting as the honored Alana Norman, Demaree Rodriguez, and Brooke Wolf between the games and came ready to fight in the backend of the doubleheader.
 
St. Cloud State got the first run of the contest in the top of the first after Bunnell led off with a double down the left field line and ended up scoring on Harps' single to left center. The Huskies had an opportunity to pad their lead in the inning with runners at first and second with one out, but a clutch double play on a groundball to Kylie Alto ensured the Marauders would only face a 1-0 deficit going into the second inning.
 
MeLanie Rodriguez pitched one of her best games of the regular season as she scattered six hits over seven innings of work while striking out two and held the Huskies scoreless in the second, third, and fourth innings, while the offense struggled to get into gear.
 
St. Cloud State added another run to their total in the top of the fifth on a double steal attempt with Bunnell making the break for second base and held up U-Mary's defense long enough to allow Veronica Wold to score from third base for a 2-0 lead going into the sixth inning.
 
The Marauders finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Mendez drew the one-out walk and was followed by a single from Zink to put runners at first and second.
 
Crutchfield responded with another single to left field to move Mendez over to third, and an errant throw from the right fielder allowed the junior from Los Banos, Calif., to cross the plate to cut the Husky lead down to 2-1 with one out.
 
Alto connected with the second pitch of her at bat from Senna Francesconi and sent the ball into left center for a single to load up the bases, but Francesconi found the groove once again and ended the inning on a strikeout and fly ball out to keep the Marauders at bay with a 2-1 tally favoring St. Cloud State.
 
MeLanie Rodriguez held the Huskies scoreless in the top of the seventh to set the stage for U-Mary in the final at bat as the offense finally sprang to life with Norman leading off the inning with an infield single.
 
The Marauders had a bit of luck on their side as Demaree Rodriguez reached on a fielding error by the centerfielder, while Gamboa followed up with a sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position for Mendez who carries one of the biggest bats in the Northern Sun.
 
St. Cloud State, keenly aware of Mendez's long ball hitter status, decided to intentionally walk her to load the bases up with one out. Zink, in the meantime, took her spot in the box and took a hard cut at the first pitch from Kate Kopeck who came into the game in relief of Francesconi in the seventh inning.
 
Zink didn't miss on the second pitch of the at bat as she drove the ball to right center field and the walk-off grand slam boosted the Marauders to yet another comeback win at 5-2 over the Huskies in the contest.
 
Shawnee Zink finished with two hits in the game, adding a single to her first career grand slam, while adding four RBI and one run in the game.
 
Demaree Rodriguez added two singles in her final game in a Marauder uniform, while Alana Norman notched a single and a run to finish second on U-Mary's hitting list with 246 career hits.
 
MeLanie Rodriguez recorded her eight win of the year while also finishing her 11th complete game during the 2016 season.
 
The Marauders will have seven starters returning to the field with Taylor Mendez, Shawnee Zink, MeLanie Rodriguez, Amber Gamboa, and Lex Hubbard leading the junior class and looking to provide guidance as U-Mary eyes a return to the NSIC tournament for the 2017 season.
 
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