Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Rochester, Minn.— On day two of the triangular, the 18th ranked Minnesota State softball team went 1-1, defeated Upper Iowa 8-0, then was downed by #8 Winona State 8-2.
The Mavericks opened the day with an 8-0, six inning victory over the Peacocks.
Junior Melanie Upchurch led MSU offense with a stellar 4-for-4, three run performance at the plate. Senior Natalie Spicer went 3-for-4 from the plate and knocked in five runs.
It was a one run ballgame until the Mavericks broke it open in the fifth inning on a Spicer three-run home run. MSU followed it up in the sixth inning, adding four runs, batting all nine batters.
Sophomore pitcher Courtney McKelvogue went five innings from the mound, giving up one hit, striking out ten. The win propels McKelvogue to an 11-2 record this season. Freshman Kristen Fah pitched the sixth inning, striking out the final batter of the game.
MSU Freshmen Lindsay Erickson and Kelly Wood each went 2-for-3 in the game.
In game two on Sunday, Minnesota State fell short to the #8 Warriors in the weekend finale.
The Mavericks jumped on the board first in the second inning as senior #Julie O’Neal# led off the inning with a walk. Junior Chelsea Erickson would rip a single moving O’Neal to second. Freshman Kelly Wood generated a one out double to knock in O’Neal.
WSU jumped on the board scoring two runs in the fourth inning off two hits.
Spicer tried to get the Mavericks offense going by hitting a solo homerun in the top of the sixth, but that’s all the Minnesota State offense could generate the rest of the game.
Winona State would have its biggest inning in the sixth as it hit a three-run home run, totaling four for the inning. The Warriors added two more runs in the seventh to beat the Mavericks 8-2.
Junior Kendra Huettl went 5.1 innings on the mound, giving up six hits, six runs and striking out four. Huettl now owns a 9-2 record this season.
Minnesota State went 3-1 on the weekend, shutting out Upper Iowa 12-0 and 8-0, while splitting with Winona State 4-1 and 2-8.
The Mavericks (21-4, 0-0 NSIC) will continue play Thursday at 11 a.m., against Concordia at the Vadnais Sports Center in Vadnais Heights, Minn.
