This past Friday, March 29, the Anoka-Ramsey Community College Golden Rams traveled to the Rosemount Irish Dome to participate in the Minnesota Classic and came away with three victories. Offense was the theme of the day for the Golden Rams as they scored 54 runs, had 52 hits and amassed 8 home runs.
The first game saw the Golden Rams beat Hibbing by a score of 18-0 in 5 innings. Sunny Strait picked up her first collegiate win and shut-out while striking out six and walking zero. Offensively, many Golden Rams had a multi-hit game. The team was led by Bailey Zenk who went 2-4 with 2 HR's and 6 RBI's. Other offensive stars were Megan Iverson who had 2 hits, 2 doubles and 2 RBI's, Chloe Vezies who had 2 hits and 3 RBI's, Anna Wagner who also had 2 hits(double, triple) and 3 RBI's and Cassie Benson who had 2 hits as well.
In the second game, Anoka-Ramsey defeated Riverland by a score of 20-1 in 5 innings. Zenk picked up her 1st win of the season striking out five and only allowing two hits. This was another impressive game at the plate as the team pounded out 20 hits. Three players had perfect games at the plate with Cleopatra Nystrom going 4-4 including a double and home run with 3 RBI's, Benson who was 3-3 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's and Wagner who was 3-3 with a double, home run and 3 RBI's. Ashley Stepaniak also contributed 3 hits (triple, homerun) and 4 RBI's and Zenk, Vezies and Brooke Harder all had two hits apiece.
The final game of the day pitted the Golden Rams playing against a strong M-State squad with the Golden Rams coming out on top in 5 innings by a score of 16-5. Anoka-Ramsey jumped out an early 13-0 lead after 2.5 innings and never looked back. Strait took to the circle again and earned her second "W" of the day. As was the case in the previous two games, hitting was the name of the game. Leading the way was Strait who had 3 hits including a home run and 4 RBI's, Nystrom also had 3 hits with a triple and home run, Iverson and Stepaniak also contributed 3 hits apiece. Zenk drove in 4 runs on 2 hits and Vezies drove in 2 runs on 2 hits as well. Finally, Wagner had a pinch hit 2 run Home Run that capped off the day.
With the three wins, Anoka-Ramsey is now 3-8 on the young season.
Next up for the Golden Rams is the MCAC Crossover in the Rochester bubble this weekend, April 5-6. The team will play Dakota College and Northland on Friday, April 5 at 2pm and 4 pm. Then Saturday, April 6, Anoka-Ramsey will take on Itasca at 8am and Central Lakes at noon.