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Box Score 2
Sioux Falls, S.D.—The Minnesota State softball team split a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games against Augustana Wednesday afternoon, falling in game one, 7-2 before defeating the Vikings in 13 innings, 7-4 in game two.
In the opening game, the Vikings led the Mavericks 2-0 through four innings, off five hits.
At the top of the fifth, senior second basemen Abby Morris drilled her third home run of the season, bringing two runners in and knotting the game at 2-2.
The Vikings would close-out game one in the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing five runners in on four hits, with two Maverick errors.
Morris went 1-for-4 at the plate bringing the Mavericks two runs in. Minnesota State tallied two runs off five hits with two errors.
Sophomore pitcher Kendra Huettl pitched six innings and took the loss, allowing seven runs off 11 hits, while striking out two, dropping her record to 14-7.
In the nightcap, Augustana opened the bottom of the first with one run off a double to left field.
Sophomore rightfielder Amanda Umhoefer doubled to center field in the top of the third. Senior short stop Libbie Reichling hit a double to left field which would bring Umhoefer in for the Mavericks first run.
The Vikings hit right back with a triple to right center followed by a single through the right side for two runs.
In the top of the fourth freshman leftfielder Katie Kruse hit her second home run of the season to right field, bringing the Mavericks within one run of the Vikings.
Minnesota State tied the game up at the top of the sixth inning with one run. Senior catcher Kelsey Thompson hit a single up the middle before Kruse singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Viking error that would bring one runner in.
In the top of the eighth, Thompson led off the Mavericks will a home run to left field, her ninth of the season, giving the Mavericks a one-run lead.
Augustana tallied a run to keep the game alive in the bottom of the eighth off one hit and a Maverick error which would bring one runner in, leaving the game knotting at 4-4.
The two teams battled for four innings with no runs, before the Mavericks came out strong in the top of the 13th inning. Thompson drilled her second home run of the game, in extra innings and 10th on the season, to take the lead. Junior third basemen Julie O'Neal hit a single through the left side before Kruse stepped up and blasted her second home run of the game to centerfield, third on the season, bringing two insurance runs in.
Kruse paced the Mavericks at the plate going 5-for-7 with four runs batted in. In extra innings Thompson’s two home runs kept the Mavericks alive. MSU posted seven runs off 17 hits with two errors against the Vikings four runs off nine hits and four errors.
Redshirt freshman Courtney McKelvogue pitched all 13 innings, improving her record to 16-3. McKelvogue scattered nine hits, allowing four runs while striking out nine.
The win marks Minnesota State’s fifth consecutive 30-win season.
Minnesota State (30-10, 16-6 NSIC) travel to Fayette, Iowa to battle the Peacocks of Upper Iowa in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
For Game One stats click HERE
For Game Two stats click HERE
