Ernst Spins Two-hit Shutout as Regina Downs North Cedar 8-0

Ryan Murken Follow @rmmurken June 28, 2020

IOWA CITY – The loss of all-state ace Katie Bracken and her 178 odd innings of work to graduation following last season left a rather large void in the Regina pitching rotation.

Junior Jaelynn Ernst spent the offseason working to put herself in position to be a part of the Regals pitching rotation puzzle.

That offseason work continued to pay dividends for Ernst on Monday.

Ernst turned in her best performance yet, tossing a complete game two-hitter in an 8-0 win over North Cedar (0-5) in a River Valley Conference cross-divisional matchup in Iowa City.

“She worked hard in the offseason and really developed her spins on her pitches,” Regina head coach Morgan Goedken said. “Now the movement is there and she’s doing a lot better at locating. With the spin and the location she gives us a chance every time she is in the circle.”

Ernst posted an 0-2 record with a 3.50 ERA in a total of 16 innings last season as a sophomore.

During the offseason Ernst worked on adding to her pitch repertoire while refining her existing arsenal.

“I pitched a lot during the offseason, working with my pitching coach once a week and worked a lot with my dad,” Ernst said. “I wanted to be as ready as I could.”

The results have been positive in her first season of extended action.

Ernst improved her season record to 4-2 with the win over Monday while lowering her season ERA to 2.47.

More importantly the win improved Regina to 6-6 on the season and kept the Regals in the thick of the River Valley Conference South Division race at 6-2.

“At first this season I was a little nervous, I’m not going to lie,” Ernst said. “It was an easy leap because I trust the girls behind me so after the first few games I wasn’t that nervous.”

Ernst was in control from the outset on Monday.

She allowed just a pair of singles, both in the third inning, while striking out six and walking one.

The junior right-hander didn’t allow a baserunner after the third inning, retiring the final 13 batters she faced.

“She was great tonight,” Goedken said. “She was locating really well, when she missed a spot she came back the next pitch and that’s what I’m really happy with. We don’t expect her to be perfect we just expect her to get better every pitch.”

Ernst retired North Cedar in order in the first and Regina took a quick lead when Annie Gahan led off with a single, stole second and third and scored on an Emma Sueppel RBI groundout.

It was the first of three RBI on the evening for Sueppel who led the Regals with three hits.

“Our hitting is really starting to come together and that’s what is starting to help us win games,” Sueppel said. “Our pitching has been great and our fielding is coming along too.”

Regina would add onto the lead scoring in three of the next five innings but the early run was enough for Ernst.

North Cedar threatened just once, when singles by Jenna Syring and Kassidie Galloway put runners on second and third with one out.

A big-time defensive play helped Ernst escape the inning unscathed.

Ernst got Kayla Syring to fly to left field where Abby Clark made the catch and threw a strike to catcher Alli Clark to cut down Jenna Syring attempt to score.

“It’s a confidence booster any time you have a play like that,” Ernst said. “That was a boost for the whole team.”

That was the last baserunner for the Knights.

Ernst retired the side in order in each of the final four innings, striking out two in both the fifth and sixth.

“I threw a lot of curves and drop curves tonight because the ump liked to call them,” Ernst said. “They started chasing them towards the end realizing they were getting called strikes so I just stayed on the outside corner with those pitches and worked that most of the night.”

Sueppel had an RBI single in a two-run third and another in a four-run sixth and also scored a run in the fifth.

Annie Gahan had two hits and scored two runs while Abby Clark had two hits and scored twice.

“I’m happy with where we are at,” Goedken said. “This is a process and we are slowly building every game and things are coming together. Soon I’m sure pitching, defense and hitting are all going to be there and that’s where we want to be come postseason.”