While the day was a strong start for Southern Miss, the chance to play again after 394 days was a moment to relish.
"It feels great," Southern Miss coach Brian Levin said. "You've waited all this time and put in all that work to play again, and finally getting out there is fun. The girls are excited, that's for sure."
The key for both wins was the Golden Eagles' pitching staff. The dynamic duo of veteran pitchers Kaylan Ladner and Makenna Pierce gave Southern Miss kept the Golden Eagles afloat.
"They did a really good job early," Levin said. "(Ladner) fell behind early there a little bit and got herself in a little trouble, but she always seemed to get herself out. It was good to see that she battled through that. Makenna was getting ahead early, and then in a later inning, she was kind of falling behind. She had her drop ball and curveball working. I thought both of them were throwing the changeup consistently for strikeouts and kept hitters off balance. I think as the games went on, they were kind of running out of gas early in the year."
Playing the biggest key role in the wins was Arizona State transfer Morgan Leinstock who closed both games and recorded a save in each game. In three innings of work, Leinstock struck out four batters while giving up just one hit.
"I thought pitching did a good job and worked out of a lot of jams," Levin said. "That was good to see. I was really impressed with Morgan Leinstock coming in and closing the door in both games, and throwing the ball hard. She really brings out a lot of energy. It's fun to watch the ball game when she is pitching, that's for sure. She lifts everyone up around her. I enjoyed seeing that today."
The Golden Eagles open the day with a 3-0 over North Dakota. Southern Miss jumped out a hot start and scored all of its runs in the first inning with two outs.
Second baseman Tata Davis doubled down the left field line to drive in the first run of the season. Third baseman Maddie Vasquez then followed with an RBI single to drive in two more runs to extend the lead.
"I was really impressed with Maddie Vasquez at third base," Ladner said. "She played really well at third base. We moved Tata over to second base, and I think that gave us more versatility and range. It kind of worked out for us, and I kind of like what I see from Maddie."
From there, Ladner battled the North Dakota staff for six innings as the Fighting Hawks put runners on base every inning. Ladner, however, managed to pitch out of each inning until the sixth inning.
In the seventh inning, Ladner gave up a single and a double, which led to Levin making a call in the bullpen. In six innings of work, Ladner gave up nine hits, walked two batters and struck out five, with Ladner stranding 11 of North Dakota's 13 base runners.
In Leinstock's debut, she induced a pair of groundouts a recorded a strikeout to seal the win and record a save.
In the second game, Pierce got the start and quickly found a groove as she recorded seven strikeouts in the first five innings while allowing four hits and stranding six Murray State baserunners.
The Golden Eagles got on the board in the second inning, with Maria Smith scoring from a fielding error.
Then in the fourth inning, Vasquez drove in a run despite grounding out. Vasquez finished the day 3-for-6 while driving in three RBI. Tata Davis also finished the day 3-for-6 and Terrica Williams finished 2-for-6.
"I told them that our goal is to keep a team under three runs," Levin said. "If we can do that, then we have a good chance to win. We did that in both games. If we can score three to five runs, we're going to win. We just have to do enough to do that. I can't be too upset with the offense. We got a clutch hit when we had to and (it was) enough to win games. That's all you can ask for early in the year."
In the sixth inning, Murray State had a chance to take the lead after Pierce walked the first two batters of the inning. Leinstock was called from the pen again, and despite giving up a single, she closed the inning and sealed the win for Southern Miss.
Southern Miss will play Eastern Illinois and North Dakota starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
