Rochester, MN - On a day when both teams offenses took over the RCTC Yellowjackets earned a two game sweep of Ridgewater to clinch at least a share of the MCAC Southern Division Title on Tuesday night. The Jackets outslugged Ridgewater 20-12 in six innings in game one, and then 12-4 in five innings in game two.
The wins, along with MN West's inability to field a team for the final double-header of the season locked up the Division Title. Pending the results of St. Cloud Tech's final two series of the season, the Jackets could host a play-off seeding game on Friday against St. Cloud. If the Cyclones win all four games the two teams will tie, and having split the four regular season games their would be a play-off game to determine who would be the nuber one seed and host of the Region Tournament next week.
In game one of the Ridgewater series the two teams combined for a total of 32 hits and 32 runs. The Jackets struck early taking a 6-1 lead after one, before adding 1 in the second, 3 in the third, 4 in the fourth, 3 in the fifth, and 3 more in the sixth to seal the win. Aubrey Grover was 3-4 with a double and 6 RBI's, while Zoey Clark was 3-4 with a homerun, a double, and a pair of RBI's. Bailey Monson, had a homerun and 4 RBI's, while Jada James piked up three hits including a double. The Jackets also got doubles from Skylar Beckel, Michaela Kern, and Bria Nelsen.
Game two saw things settle down a bit offensively early in the game as RCTC held a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third. From there the offensive fireworks started again, as RCTC scored 4 in the bottom of the 3rd, while Ridgeater put 4 across the plate in their half of the fourth. RCTC came right back with 7 in the bottom of the fourth, before pitcher Zoey Clark shut the door on the Warriors in the fifth to give the Jackets the five inning win.
In addition to earning the win, Clark was 2-3 with a triple and a pair of RBI's. Aubrey Grover picked up a pair of doubles, while Skylar Beckel was 2-3 with 3 runs scored. Brynn Irish picked up 3 RBI's and a run scored.
