DENVER – Senior center fielder Frankie Mickelson tied a career-high with four hits and keyed a 17-hit attack as the University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (1-1) split a nonconference doubleheader with Metro State with an 11-4 decision in game two at the Regency Athletic Complex on Saturday (Feb. 1).

In the season opening series, the Cougars hit .324 with 23 hits, three doubles and 14 RBIs while recording a .424 on-base percentage. In the opener, USF rallied down 3-1 to tie it at 3-3 but dropped a heartbreaker in extra innings – losing 4-3 in nine innings. In game two, USF exploded offensively as they scored five runs in the first inning and added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before putting the game on ice with a four-spot in the sixth inning in the 11-4 win. The 17 hits by USF ties the most over the past year plus by a USF squad since registering 17 against Wayne State (14-4 win) on April 2, 2019.

USF Head Coach Shannon Pivovar was really happy with the play of her squad which opened the 2020 season today. "I am very proud with the way our kids competed in all aspects of the game today. We came out a little slow offensively – nerves about the season opener got the best of us – and we were overly timid. We were able to learn quite a bit about situational play and then we used that in game two to come out aggressively from the start," said Pivovar, who is in her second season with USF. "Our pitchers and defense took care of the ball and gave us changes to win game one. Then, our bats took over in game two," she said.

Pivovar added: "It was fun to see our kids successful today. We had so many different kids step up in various situations and that is what we need – to play as a family. Offensively Lex, (Swift) Rach (Klassen), and Frankie (Mickelson) getting on early and often set the table for Cassie and Emmie to drive in situational runs. Defensively, Kaitlyn (Van Der Zwaag), Sydney (Nieveen) and Hannah (Cress) all hit spots and spun what they needed to get us ground balls. Our infield covered up the holes and we had outfielders diving into gaps to take away big plays," added Pivovar, who team will conclude a four-game nonconference road set at Colorado School of Mines on Sunday at noon and 2 pm in Golden, Colo.

In the two games, sophomore outfielder Lexie Swift had four hits in 10 at bats with two RBI and hit .400 while Mickelson had four hits in nine at bats and slugging .556.  USF pitchers held MSU to a 2.37 batting average and eight strikeouts. In addition, USF had a perfect fielding day, registering a 1.000 mark with 46 putouts, 22 assists and no errors.

Game Recap – Game 1 – Metro State 4 USF 3 (9 innings)
In a back-and-forth game, USF dropped the season opener, 4-3, to MSU in nine innings. After trailing 3-1, USF rallied to tie the game at 3-3 but was unable to put across the go-ahead run. Then in the ninth inning, MSU's Kayla Banks doubled to center to open the frame and moved to third on a ground out. She scored on JJ Sheppard's RBI single to second base.

Cassie Van Beek led USF's six-hit attack with two hits and two RBI in two trips to the plate. USF also had a double and RBI from Swift. Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag started the game and worked three innings in which she allowed six hits and three runs in facing 15 hitters. Sydney Nieveen (0-1) suffered the loss despite allowing just three hits and a run in 5 1/3 innings of work. She did not walk a hitter and registered three strikeouts.

Scoring Breakdown -
Nieveen recorded USF's first hit of the season with a single to right field to open the second inning. Then, Sarah Keen reached by fielder's choice and VanDerZwaag walked to load the bases. Van Beek followed with a sacrifice fly as the Cougars led, 1-0. After MSU put on two runners in second, Van Der Zwaag induced a double play to end the inning. After MSU took a 3-1 lead, Swift had an RBI double to plate Van Beek, who had singled to open the inning. Down 3-2, Van Beek had the big hit to forge a tie.  She recorded a run-scoring and game-tying single which plate Keen, who had singled and stole second base earlier in the sixth inning. That was all the scoring until MSU pushed across the game-winner in the bottom of the 10^th inning.
 
Game Recap – Game 2 – USF 11 Metro State 4 (seven innings)
USF opened the offensive floodgates early by putting up a five-spot in the top of the first inning and never looked back in cruising to an 11-4 win over Metro State. As a result, USF evened its record at 1-1. 

USF was led by Mickelson, who tied a career-high with four hits in five trips and scored two runs with an RBI. USF also had three-hit games from Swift, who was 3-of-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Emmie Uitts, who had three hits in four at-bats with two RBI.  Nieveen had three RBI and Cassie Van Beek added two RBI while totaling four for the doubleheader. Also for USF, freshman Shayla Running had two hits in two at bats while Rachel Klassen also had two hits, run scored and an RBI.

In her first start, freshman Hanna Cress (1-0) earned her first career win and did so with a complete game. In facing 29 hitters across seven innings, she allowed five hits and four runs while striking out five and walking three hitters.

Scoring Breakdown –
After taking a hard-luck loss in the opener, the Cougars opened fast in game two. USF put up five runs on six hits to take an early lead. In the first inning, Swift led off with an infield single and moved to second on Klassen's base hit to left. Mickelson loaded the bases with a single to center. Then, Nieveen drove in her first run of the season with a single to right field for a 1-0 lead. Lindsey Mossman walked to score a run and then Van Beek continued her hot hitting with a single to center which platted Nieveen and Mickelson. Uitts followed with a double to right and an RBI for the 5-0 lead.

After Cress held MSU scoreless in the first two innings, the Roadrunners scored twice in the third inning to cut the lead to 5-2.

Mickelson opened the fourth inning with a double and her second hit of the game. After Van Beek walked, Uitts singled to right to plate Mickelson for a 6-2 lead.

In the fifth inning, Swift singled to right and Klassen walked before Mickelson's third hit, an infield single, loaded the bases with one out. Nieveen had a foul out to right which scored Swift for a 7-2 lead.

In the home half of the fifth inning, MSU added two more runs to cut the deficit to 7-4. But then USF came up big in the sixth inning and put the game away. And, USF's rally all happened with two out. After the first two batters were retired, USF put up four runs on five hits and had RBI from Swift, Klassen, Mickelson, and Nieveen, who had her third of the game.