The old adage, "A win is a win and we will take them anyway we can get them", couldn't have been more true yesterday for Golden Ram Softball. Anoka-Ramsey was not at its best but found a way to win a pair of games over MCAC Southern Division foe Ridgewater by scores of 6-5 and 10-5.
In game one yesterday, the bats were pretty lackluster all game until the bottom of the 7th with the Golden Rams trailing 5-3. Ashley Stepaniak led off the inning with a double to left center. After the next batter flew out, Bailey Zenk ripped a base hit to left field which put runners on the corners with one out.
Then Sunny Strait stepped up to the plate and drove a single up the middle to score a run to make the score 5-4. Strait then steals 2nd base to put runners at 2nd and 3rd still with one out. After a pop out, Anoka-Ramsey was down to their final out when Cleopatra Nystrom squared up the 1st pitch she saw and hammered a line drive to centerfield for the walk-off game-winning double scoring both runners.
Nystrom, Stepaniak and Zenk all had 2 hits for the Golden Rams. Strait got the start and went the distance scattering 14 hits while striking out four. This win was her fifth of the season.
Game two saw Ridgewater jump out to an early 2-0 lead until the bottom of the 1st when Anoka-Ramsey responded with 3 runs of their own.
Four consecutive hits by Nystrom, Stepaniak, Strait and Zenk were the key to the inning. The score remained 3-2 until the top of the 5th when Ridgewater scored three runs on only two hits to take a 5-3 lead. The Golden Rams then responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning highlighted by Zenk's league leading 7th homerun of the season and Cassie Benson's double to left.
Anoka-Ramsey added four more runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth with hits by Strait, Anna Wagner and Emily Robinette. The Golden Rams accumulated 15 hits for the game with Benson leading the way with 3 of those 15 hits. Also getting two hits apiece were Strait, Zenk, Wagner, Robinette and Brooke Harder.
Strait came in relief of Zenk to pick up her 6th win. In relief, Strait gave up zero runs while walking no one.
Anoka-Ramsey is now 8-11 overall and 2-2 in the MCAC Southern Division. Next up for the Golden Rams is a trip this weekend to play Rochester on Friday, April 19 at 3pm and 5pm; and Riverland on Saturday, April 20 at 12pm and 2pm.