SUPERIOR, Wis.: Saturday afternoon was, hands down, the nicest weather the Yellowjacket softball team has seen when playing at home in 2019. With the sun shining and temperatures in the mid-to-high 60s, the Yellowjackets took the field in their regular season home finale. On a day when the seniors were being honored for playing their final regular season home games, it was only fitting one of the six playing their final regular season home games did the most damage at the plate.

Bailey Armstrong (Scandia, Minn/Forest Lake) had seven hits in eight at bats on the day to lift the Yellowjackets to a sweep of their doubleheader with North Central, winning the opening game 9-1 before routing the Rams 14-2 in the second.

With the wins the Yellowjackets (15-15, 12-0 UMAC) extended their winning streak to 12 games and finished the regular season a perfect 8-0 at home. They also stayed atop the UMAC standings heading into a doubleheader between with Bethany Lutheran Wednesday in Mankato. The games will likely decide who will be hosting the post-season tournament in May.

Game 1
North Central plated the first run of the opener in the top of the first inning to take the early lead. That advantage didn't last long, however, as the 'Jackets tied the game when Alayna Tulip (Arcadia, Wis./Arcadia) launched her first home run of the year well over the fence in left center field. The Yellowjackets would then string three straight hits together to score another run to move ahead 2-1. It was a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) hit a one-out double in the bottom of the second to bring home Emily Carpenter (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) with another run. Two hitters later Kirk would score on an error to put the 'Jackets ahead 4-1. The Yellowjackets would score a single run in the bottom of the fourth before adding two more in the fifth when Amber Yoch (North Branch, Minn./North Branch Area) hit a two-run single up the middle. The Yellowjackets would close out the scoring, and the game, in the bottom of the sixth. Needing only two runs to end the game, Kirk starting the inning with a triple, and Tulip walked on four pitches to put runners on the corners. Gabby Gidley (Superior, Wis./Superior) drove in one run with an infield single and Armstrong ended it with a single of her own to make the final score 9-1.

Armstrong had four hits in four at bats to pace the Yellowjackets' 15-hit attack. Kirk, Tulip, Ashley Taipale (Duluth, Minn./Denfield), and Gidley all had two hits in the game.

Taipale got the start in the circle for the Yellowjackets and earned the victory, tossing a complete game to even her record to 6-6 on the year. She gave up one run on two hits while walking two and striking out 10.

Game 2
The Yellowjackets didn't waste any time getting the scoring started in the second contest, as they sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs. Taipale got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly, and then the Yellowjackets strung together six hits in their next seven at bats to build a big lead in the first inning. The big hit coming when Yoch drove a double to right center field that brought home two runs.

Gidley started the second inning with a triple and scored on an Armstrong single to increase the Yellowjacket lead. The advantage hit double digits later in the inning when Amelia Leger (Andover, Minn./Andover) doubled to center field to bring home two runs and make it an 11-0 game.

North Central got on the board in the top of the third, but the Yellowjackets answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring three times and getting RBI hits from Taipale and Armstrong to make the score 14-1. North Central would plate another run in the fifth, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Yellowjackets rolled to the win and the sweep.

The Yellowjackets pounded out 16 hits in the second game, led by Gidley who had four and finished just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Armstrong followed up her four-hit game with three in the second. Tulip and Leger added two hits each.

Damara Theis (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) started the second game for the Yellowjackets and picked up the win to move to 4-6 on the year. She went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits in five innings. She walked one and struck out three.

The six seniors honored for playing their final regular season home games Saturday were Lizzy Borgwardt (Verona, Wis./Verona Area), Leger, Bobbijean Miller (Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis), Gidley, Theis, and Armstrong.