LEESBURG/MINNEOLA/CLERMONT, FLOR. - Despite dropping two of their final four games in the Sunshine State, the Madison College softball team finished their annual Florida Spring Trip with a 10-3 record, the most wins for the trip in program history. The WolfPack started the ten-day trip with six straight wins before suffering their first setback, and concluded with a Wednesday sweep of South Suburban College and Dakota County Technical College by scores of 14-5 and 4-0 respectively. The 'Pack, which jumped to #9 in the NJCAA Division II Poll during the trip, finished the final two days with DH splits, defeating St. Clair County Community College 14-4 and 5-2, while taking losses against repeat opponents Iowa Lakes Community College, 9-6, and South Suburban, 9-7.

Wednesday (3/14) Game #1: #9 Madison College 14, South Suburban College 5 (7 innings)

Looking to recover from their first loss of the season and begin a new winning streak, Madison College found themselves having to work from behind against NJCAA Region IV foe South Suburban College (10-4).Despite tallying a pair of runs in the first and third innings, the WolfPack surrendered four runs to the Bulldogs in the bottom of the third to fall behind 5-4. But Madison College had a quick and powerful response, reclaiming the lead for good in the fourth with five runs. Sophomore Claire Brzenk and freshman Hannah Grahl hit back-to-back run-scoring singles, and then scored when second year catcher Katelin Gilbertson crushed her third home run of the season to tie freshman Dany Gumz for the team lead. The 'Pack added two more runs in the fifth and another three runs in seventh to close out the nine-run win.

Ten different players registered a hit in the game, with Sam Schloegl, Ashley Kniesel, and Brzenk finishing with two each. Schloegl, a sophomore transfer from Aurora University, scored a team-best three runs, while four others crossed home twice. Gilbertson, an Onalaska, Wisconsin, native, drove in a team-high three runs with her fourth inning long ball to finish one RBI ahead of Schloegl and Paige Cornelissen with two each.

The two teams combined to commit ten errors, with each team contributing five. Starting pitcher Alli Walker allowed seven hits and five runs in her two-plus innings, though none of the runs were earned for her first no decision of a start this season that snapped a four-game winning streak. Second year Mackenzie Terrill (3-0) picked up the win with four-plus scoreless innings, limiting SSC to just three hits. The Milton, Wisconsin, native, walked three batters and struck out four.

Wednesday (3/14) Game #2: #9 Madison College 4, Dakota County Technical College (MN) 0 (7 innings)

The lone shutout of the trip to Florida came on game number nine when the WolfPack surrendered just four hits against the NJCAA Division III Blue Knights (0-2). Sophomore Emily Wiederholt (2-0) spun six scoreless frames in the circle, giving up three hits and two walks. The Cuba City, Wisconsin, product struck out five batters and never allowed a runner past second base before giving way to fellow second year Riley Landenberger for the final inning.

Offensively, Maegan Brookins, Ali Braddock, Dany Gumz, and Maddie Krafcheck each enjoyed multiple hit games with two each. Braddock, a sophomore from Waukesha, Wisconsin, drove in the game's first run with a single in the third and scored two of the team's four runs. Gumz, a former Marshall HS standout, doubled the Madison College advantage in the fifth with a two-run single to right.

Thursday (3/15) Game #1: Iowa Lakes Community College 9, #9 Madison College 6 (7 innings)

Four days after defeating the Lakers by six runs, Madison College was unable to duplicate the feat in taking their second loss of the season. The WolfPack jumped out early to a 4-0 lead in the first half inning thanks to five singles, a walk, and an error, most of which came with two outs on the board. Ashley Kniesel, Dany Gumz, and Bre Feiler each singled in a run. Iowa Lakes (7-9) answered with two runs in the first against sophomore starter Hannah Wienen, who was removed in the first inning after a hit by pitch and two walks. Emily Wiederholt entered and gave up a grand slam as part of a five-run second inning as the 'Pack lost the lead for good. Trailing 8-4 through five innings, Madison College attempted a comeback when Katelin Gilbertson drove a single to center to plate Sam Schloegl and Claire Brzenk, but it would be the last runs of the day for the 'Pack.

Wiederholt (2-1) suffered her first loss of the year after 2 2/3 innings with six earned runs and seven hits allowed. Wienen faced seven batters and gave up two unearned runs and a hit. Alli Walker tossed the final 2 2/3 innings, holding the Lakers to a run and five hits. The pitching trio combined for five walks and five strikeouts.

At the dish, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native Claire Brzenk went 3 for 3 with a run scored to pace the offensive attack. Freshman Paige Cornelissen was the only other player with multiple hits. Katelin Gilbertson drove in a team-best two runs.

Thursday (3/15) Game #2: #9 Madison College 14, St. Clair County Community College (MI) 4 (5 innings)

The first of two games in two days against the Skippers saw Madison College put up crooked numbers in each of the first four innings before taking the run-rule victory. The WolfPack opened big with a six-run top of the first that featured 12 batters. Riley Landenberger, Kylie Endres, Maegan Brookins, and Ashley Burg all recorded a RBI in the inning, with the first three doing so with hits. Endres had the biggest with a two-run single to center to make it 3-0. Madison College put up two more runs in the second, and then three in the third thanks to a three-run blast by freshman Nicole Ferch, the first career home run for the Cudahy, Wisconsin, native. The scoring surged ended with three more runs in the fourth, including two runs forced in with bases loaded walks.

The WolfPack registered ten hits - to go along with nine bases on balls - and sophomore was Ashley Burg the lone player with multiple base knocks. The native of Slinger, Wisconsin, went 2 for 3 with a team-best three runs scored and two more batted in. Aided by the home run, Ferch was tops in runs batted in with a season-high four, while three others pushed two runs across.

Landenberger (4-0) made her fourth start of the season after a pair of relief appearances and held SCCCC batters to three earned runs on six hits and a walk. The righthander from Roscoe, Illinois, set down three batters via the K. In her lone inning of work, fellow second year Hannah Wienen struck out the side in the fifth to end the game.

Friday (3/16) Game #1: South Suburban College 9, #9 Madison College 7  (7 innings)

A second go-round with South Suburban College produced the most drama of the trips final few days. Even at two after two, Madison College surged ahead with two additional runs in the third and one in the fourth off Bulldogs (12-5) errors. A wild pitch in the fifth handed the 'Pack a 6-2 lead, but South Suburban put together a big rally home half of the sixth. A bases clearing double against relief pitcher Mackenzie Terrill, followed by a run-scoring groundout tied the game at six-all. However, before the inning was over the freshman hit two batters and walked to more to fill the bases and force in the go-ahead run. The WolfPack answered in the seventh with a leadoff walk to Brittany Bredemann, who scored two batters later on the Bulldogs fourth error of the game. Pitcher Emily Wiederholt, who entered for the final out of the sixth inning, returned to try and keep SCC off the board and force extra innings. After back-to-back fly outs, an error by third baseman Dany Gumz put a runner on and brought up the Bulldogs number two hitter, who ended the game with a walk-off, two-run homer over the centerfield wall.

Wiederholt suffered her second consecutive loss with a hit and two unearned runs allowed in an inning of work. Starter Alli Walker gave up four earned runs on seven hits and three walks over the course of five innings. She also struck out nine batters, giving her a team-high 47 through the season's first 19 games. Terrill faced eight batters in less than an inning and was on the hook for three earned runs, one hit, two hit batters, and three walks. 

Madison College generated just five hits. Sophomore Ashley Kniesel from Waterloo, Wisconsin, had one hit, a base on balls, one run scored, and the only two runs batted in for the 'Pack.

Friday (3/16) Game #2: #9 Madison College 5, St. Clair County Community College (MI) 2 (7 innings)

The final game of the Florida Spring Trip produced a second straight win over the Skippers as Madison College erased a two-run deficit with one big inning. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the fourth, the WolfPack summoned six hits and a walk to plate five runs. Brittany Bredemann drove in a pair with a single to right to kickstart the rally.

Hannah Wienen (3-1) threw all seven innings and struck out a career best 13 hitters. The Scales Mound, Illinois, native surrendered one earned run, five hits, and two walks.

Maegan Brookins and Olivia Bancroft-Hart each went 2 for 3 in the game, with Bredemann driving in a team-best two runs.

Up Next:

Back in the Midwest, Madison College (16-3), which fell to #20 in the latest NJCAA Division II Poll, travels to play #3 Kirkwood Community College (IA/20-2) in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 22. The Eagles, a perennial national power, swept a twin bill in Madison last season, outscoring the WolfPack 21-0 over 11 innings. Kirkwood has won all six meetings between the two programs. Game one opens with a first pitch at 3:00 p.m. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

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