EUREKA, Mo. – Softball began the 2026 season with a bang as the Knights swept Webster University in a road doubleheader with a 12-3 game one win and a 15-9 game two win on Friday, Feb. 20.
Wartburg had 19 hits as a team in game two, highlighted by first-year
Katelyn Klever, who went 4/5 at the plate and hit for the cylce in her collegiate debut. She is just the second player in program history to hit for the cycle.
Game Summary
- Game One
- First Inning
- Hannah Hoefer got the start on the mound for the Knights and picked up two strikeouts in the opening inning
- Second Inning
- Stephanie Kiefer got the hitting and scoring underway with a solo-shot home run to left centerfield for the first Wartburg hit and run of the season
- Carley Bredar singled in Wartburg's next at bat, but was left stranded as the Knights led 1-0 headed to the bottom of the second
- Third Inning
- Liz Kruckenberg tripled to leadoff the top of the third and was brought home by Regan Hassel in the next at bat to make the score 2-0
- Later that inning, Ally Happ was hit by a pitch and Bella Mulder each reached base via walk and stole their way to second and third base before a Jenna Wiebenga brought home Happ on a sacrifice flyout
- Wartburg led 3-0 headed to the bottom half of the third
- Fourth Inning
- After two early outs for Wartburg, Alexis Larson walked and Kruckenberg singled to put runners on second and third
- Hassel reached on an error to bring home Larson and then Hassel stole second to put runners back on second and third for Happ, who laid down a bunt that brought two more runs across to give Wartburg a 6-0 lead
- Mulder reached on another Webster error to bring in another run before a double from Wiebenga brought in Mulder to put the Knights in front 8-0 headed to the bottom of the fourth
- In the bottom half, Hoefer ended her time on the mound following the fourth inning with no hits allowed and five strikeouts
- Fifth Inning
- In the bottom of the fifth, Webster was able to bring three runs across following two hits and two errors from the Knights
- Sixth Inning
- Following a scoreless top half, Jillian Panther struck out two in the bottom half for the Knights to keep Wartburg in front 8-3
- Seventh Inning
- Madde Buskohl walked and Bredar singled to put runners on second and third before an RBI-single from Addy Wells brought home Buskohl
- Larson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then Gwen Mews cleared the bases with a double to left field that put the Knights in front 12-3
- Wartburg forced three groundouts in the final frame to close out a 12-3 win in the season opener
- Game Two
- First Inning
- Hassel led off game two with a single and then stole both second and third base to lead to an RBI bunt single from Happ
- Happ stole third and then was driven home by an RBI single from Katelyn Klever to give Wartburg a 2-0 lead after the opening frame
- Second Inning
- Amanda Strzyzewski, Hassel and Kruckenberg all singled, but were left stranded in the top half of the second inning
- Webster put together a big inning offensively with five hits leading to four runs that put Webster in front of the Knights 4-2 after two innings
- Third Inning
- Wartburg was able to tie the game up at 4-4 after Wiebenga singled and then Klever followed it up with a home run to left-center field
- Fifth Inning
- Wiebenga and Bredar both reached base to allow a bunt single from Mulder to score one run
- Buskohl hit a sacrifice fly to score Bredar and then Strzyzewski knocked in another run after a single to the left-center gap that put Wartburg in front 7-4
- Sixth Inning
- Kiefer led off the inning with a double and then advanced to both third and home on two wild pitches to push the Wartburg lead to 8-4
- Following a double from Klever, she was able to score from second after Mulder reached on an error to push the Knights' lead to 9-4
- Webster used four hits and two Wartburg errors to bring across five runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game 9-9 heading into the final inning
- Seventh Inning
- Both Strzyzewski and Hassel singled to leadoff the final inning before Kiefer tripled to bring both runners home and put the Knights back in front 11-9
- Kiefer scored on a wild pitch and then following a walk, Happ scored on a wild pitch as well to push the lead to 13-9
- Klever and Bredar each tripled in back-to-back at bats to bring across another run
- Mulder closed the scoring for the Knights with a sacrifice flyout that brought the Wartburg lead to 15-9
- Hoefer came back into the circle in the bottom of the seventh to closeout a 15-9 win with a three-up three-down inning
Top Performers
- Game One
- Game Two
- Katelyn Klever
- 4/5 at the plate
- Three RBI
- Home run
- Triple
- Double
- 5.0 IP
- Nine strikeouts
- Sydney Kiefer
- 2/2 at the plate
- Two RBI
- Two runs scored
- Bella Mulder
- 1/1 at the plate
- Two RBI
- Two runs scored
Notes/Streaks
- Klever becomes the second player in program history to hit for the cycle
- First since Steph Howe in 2006 against Monmouth College
- First career home run for Klever
- First win in the circle as well
- Kiefer, Happ, Klever and Mews all recorded three RBI over two games today
- Bredar leads the team with five hits through two games
- Second career home run for Kiefer
- 11 extra-base hits for the Knights through two games
- First collegiate start in the circle for Hoefer
- Wartburg stole eight bases in game one and stole 11 in game two
- Seven different Knights recorded a hit in game one and nine different Knights had a hit in game two
- Mews and Klever each recorded first career hits
Next Time Out
The Knights are back in action tomorrow for two games in St. Louis, Mo. beginning at 11 a.m. against Greenville University followed by a road matchup against the host school No. 24 WashU 1 p.m.
