WILLMAR - Five different players drove in runs and the Willmar softball team closed the regular season on a five-game win streak, beating Central Lakes Conference rival Alexandria 5-3 Friday.
Carley Hulstein had a team-high two hits and Jordyn Swoboda scored twice for Willmar, which avenged a 7-4 loss to Alex on May 5.
One night after shutting out previously unbeaten Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Lexi Kopacek pitched four innings of shutout relief to earn the victory Friday.
The win gave Willmar a third-place finish in the Central Lakes conference. The Cardinals finished CLC play at 9-5.
It also provided another boost going into the postseason, as three of the five end-of-season wins came against opponents with winning records.
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Seeding for the Section 5AAA tournament will be Sunday. Willmar went 3-3 against its section foes this season, including a 1-1 mark against likely top seed Rocori.
Willmar 5, Alexandria 3
Alexandria 030 000 0- 3 8 1
Willmar 121 010 x- 5 7 1
HITTING – Alexandria: Amy Jost 4-4 … Willmar: Karina Rice 0-2 r; Jordyn Swoboda 1-2 r-2; Heidi Sellmann 1-3 rbi; Lexi Kopacek 1-3 rbi; Carly Hulstein 2-3 rbi; Emma Culshaw 1-3 r; Grace Culshaw 1-3 r rbi; Amanda Zuidema 0-3 rbi
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Alexandria: Emma Ziegler (L) 2.1-6-4-4-1-0; Carley Haugen 2.2-1-1-0-0-1; #6 (Name not provided) 1-0-0-0-0-0 … Willmar: Anna Backes 3-4-3-3-1-3; Kopacek (W) 4-4-0-0-0-4
