Courtesy of Midland Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. – With the regular season in its final week, No. 12 Midland University made the short trip to take on the College of Saint Mary on Thursday in Omaha. The Warriors, who entered the day tied for the top spot in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), kept their spot as they swept the Flames 7-0 and 9-0 to improve to 18-2 in the conference.
GAME ONE: Midland 7, College of Saint Mary 0
After a quiet first inning, the Warriors broke through for three runs in the 2nd. Amanda Schmaderer, who had a stellar day at the plate, opened the inning with a single to center and then was driven home by Isabelle Pagan who doubled to the gap in left-center. Mia Orduna drove in Pagan with a one-out double to the same spot and then came across to score as Emily Prai singled up the middle with two outs.
In the 5th, Midland put three more runs on the scoreboard. Pagan drove in her second run of the game with a single to left field, scoring Brie Lively who came in to pinch run for Roni Foote who had reached on a fielding error. Orduna followed up with a one-out single to the gap in left-center, bringing Schmaderer and Pagan on the hard hit.
Rounding out the scoring in the 6th was Jayci Reimers who hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Prai and putting the Warriors up 7-0.
In the circle, Aliyah Rincon worked around three hits and a walk while striking out four batters for her 23rd win of the season.
Statistical Standouts
- Emily Prai: 2-for-4, R, RBI
- Amanda Schmaderer: 4-for-4, 2 R, 2B
- Isabelle Pagan: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
- Mia Orduna: 3-for-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B
GAME TWO: Midland 9, College of Saint Mary 0 (6 innings)
Following a 4-for-4 game one, Amanda Schmaderer continued her day with a two-RBI double to right field in the opening frame of the game. Emily Prai, who reached on an error, and Isabelle Pagan, who doubled down the right-field line, scored. Camille Vestal matched Schmaderer’s double with one of her own to make the score 3-0, and then Mia Orduna drove in the fourth run of the inning with a single to left field.
Paeton Coler started hot in the circle for the Warriors, sitting down two Flames’ batters via strikeouts in the bottom to set the tone for game two defensively. She added two more in the 3rd after another big inning of run support in the top half.
In the top of the 3rd, Roni Foote blasted her 50th career home run from the leadoff spot. Two batters later, Vestal hit a two-run homer with Schmaderer aboard following her sixth hit of the day.
After two more shutout innings from Coler and the defense, the Midland offense got back to work with two more runs in the 6th. Prai reached on a one-out single and then Isabelle Pagan followed with a single of her own. As Foote nearly legged out a grounder to third, Prai scored and Pagan moved up to third. Schmaderer capped off her seven-hit series with an RBI single to right to make the score 9-0.
Coler closed out the Flames in the ensuing half-inning, striking out two more batters to finish with six for the game. She was nearly perfect on the day with just one hit allowed to CSM in six innings of work.
Statistical Standouts
- Emily Prai: 1-for-4, 2 R
- Isabelle Pagan: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B
- Roni Foote: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
- Amanda Schmaderer: 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
- Camille Vestal: 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR
- Mia Orduna: 1-for-3, RBI
- Paeton Coler: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 K
Midland (39-6, 18-2 GPAC) will wrap up its regular season with a showdown against No. 9 Northwestern (41-5, 17-3 GPAC) on Saturday at home. With the top two spots already locked up by the Warriors and Red Raiders, Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader will determine the GPAC regular-season champion. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m. at Schilke Fields south of Fremont.
