Courtesy of Midland Athletics
PERU, Neb. – No. 23-ranked Midland University hit the road for a midweek nonconference game at Peru State College on Thursday, with the junior varsity squads playing beforehand. The Warriors earned a 12-4 victory over the Bobcats in five innings after the JV teams played to a 2-2 tie.
Midland’s offense started strong, with its first three batters recording hits. Reese Floro and Alexis Shepherd singled before Isabelle Pagan doubled. An outfield error on Shepherd’s hit allowed the first run to score.
After a pair of groundouts, Matti Reiling hit an RBI single to bring home Pagan, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
Peru State led off with a double in its first at-bat but failed to score. Midland kept the Bobcats off the board through three innings, working around two baserunners in the second and three in the third.
Ariyana Crafton led off the second with a single and later scored on a base hit by Shepherd, prompting an early pitching change for Peru State. Pagan then drove in another run with a groundout, and an error allowed Floro to score, making it 5-0. With two outs, Jayci Reimershit an RBI double, and Reiling followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 7-0 after two innings.
The scoring continued in the third. Floro drove in Sophie De Rouin with an RBI single and later scored on an error in right field, pushing the Warriors’ lead to 9-0.
Midland tacked on another run in the fourth when Reiling doubled and scored on an RBI double by Morgan Baska.
Peru State answered in the bottom half, taking advantage of defensive substitutions by the Warriors. A leadoff walk and a hit-by-pitch set up a two-run double, breaking up the combined shutout bid. Two more runs scored on infield errors before relief pitcher Paeton Coler settled in and recorded two strikeouts to end the inning.
Needing two runs to invoke the run rule, Midland delivered in the fifth. Reiling drove in a run with a single, and De Rouin drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the Warriors’ 12th run.
Peru State went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, sealing the game via the mercy rule.
Mackenzie Groninga started and earned the win, throwing three scoreless innings while allowing two hits. Coler pitched the final two innings, striking out two while allowing three earned runs on one hit.
Statistical Standouts
- Reese Floro: 2-for-3, 3 R, RBI
- Alexis Shepherd: 2-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI
- Isabelle Pagan: 1-for-4, R, 3 RBI
- Matti Reiling: 4-for-4, R, 3 RBI
Midland (19-10, 1-1 GPAC) will return to action Friday for a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) doubleheader against Waldorf (2-17, 0-2 GPAC). The games, originally scheduled for Saturday, were moved up due to forecasted rain. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. on March 28 at Schilke Fields south of Fremont, Nebraska.
