The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Golden Rams participated in the MCAC Crossover this past weekend in Rochester and came away with the 5-game sweep! On Friday, March 30, the Golden Rams defeated RCTC 12-4 in 5-innings, perennial northern power Itasca 10-1 in 5-innings and Ridgewater 12-9. On Saturday, the team beat M-State in a slugfest 16-15 and Central Lakes 5-3.
In the opening game on Friday, the Golden Rams got off to a slow start leading only 4-3 heading into the top of the 4th inning. Then the team exploded for six runs highlighted by Lindsey Swanson's grand slam. Lindsey ended the game going 4-4 at the plate adding a double with 5 RBI's. Also hitting homeruns for the team were Breanna Stang and Bailey Zenk. Cleopatra Nystrom and Summer Bond both contributed three hits apiece to help pace the 16-hit attack. Bailey picked up her 3rd win of the season by striking out seven and walking none.
The middle game of the day was all Anoka-Ramsey from the start. The top of the first saw the Golden Rams score two runs on three singles and three stolen bases and the team never looked back. Anoka-Ramsey scored a total of10 runs in the first 4-innings on 11 hits. Getting two hits each for the Golden Rams were Breanna Stang, Lindsey Swanson, Bailey Zenk and Summer Bond. Lindsey and Bailey, along with Emily Robinette, also contributed 2 RBI's each. The defense was outstanding committing zero errors and Lindsey picked up the win only surrendering 5 hits while striking out four and walking no one. "This was the most complete game we have played all season", said Head Coach Dave Alto. "The team was much focused and played very hard for each other."
The final game of the day saw the Golden Rams build a 10-2 lead, but through a combination of hits and errors, the team had to hold on for their third win of the day. The team collected 17 hits with many players having stellar games at the dish. Six Golden Rams had two hits apiece; Cleopatra Nystrom, Breanna Stang, Bailey Zenk, Ashley Stepaniak, Karina Pritchard and Emily Robinette. Four Golden Rams drove in 10/12 runs; Summer Bond, Breanna, Cleopatra and Ashley. Lindsey Swanson was the winning pitcher bring her record to 5-4 on the young season.
Game one on Saturday was a wild affair to say the least. There were 31 runs scored on 32 hits by both teams. Anoka-Ramsey was down 3-10 entering the top of the 5th inning when they put a three-spot on the board highlighted by Mickey Guenther's 2-run single and the 1st of two triples by Karina Pritchard. Now down 6-10 heading into the top of the 6th inning, the Golden Rams scored seven times on eight hits. Leading the way with her second homerun of the game was Breanna Stang. Not to be outdone, M-State answered with five runs of their own to take a 15-13 lead into the top of the 7th. But on this day, the Golden Rams were not to be denied. The team scored three runs with one out and hung on for the win. A clutch 2-run double by Mickey and a sacrifice fly by Emily Robinette knocked in the three runs. Overall, Anoka-Ramsey continued their torrid hitting for the weekend with 19 hits. The Golden Rams used three pitchers with Bailey Zenk getting credit for the win in relief.
Game two on Saturday was a classic fastpitch game between two good teams. Strong pitching and strong defense were at the forefront of this nail-biter. The Golden Rams were ahead 3-2 heading into the top of the 6th when Central Lakes scored the go-ahead run on a turf single. The score stayed this way until the bottom of the 7th inning. Bailey Zenk reached first base on an error and Lindsey Swanson hit a 2-run walkoff homerun for the win! Lindsey was 3-4 at the plate with 4 RBI's and Mickey Guenther was 2-4. Pitching the complete game and getting her 6th win of the season was Swanson. She scattered nine hits, while striking out five and walking two.
Anoka-Ramsey is now 11-8 on the season and takes their five game winning streak into the weekend where they will open MCAC Southern Division play. On Friday, April 6, the Golden Rams will play Riverland in the RCTC bubble and then on Saturday, April 7, the team will play RCTC indoors as well.