Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MANKATO, Minn. --- No. 8 Minnesota State softball swept St. Cloud State by scores of  3-1 and 9-1 in five innings on Friday to improve to 40-8 overall and 24-2 in NSIC action.

MSU started the twinbill with a 3-1 win over SCSU.

The Mavericks struck first on a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning as senior Anna Cole got things rolling with a single and advanced to second on the throw before being batted in by an RBI-single by fellow senior Kelly Wood.

SCSU knotted things up with a leadoff home run in the top of the third inning as Stephanie Roan connected on a solo shot knotting the score at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning.

MSU was able to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as sophomore Karli DesLauriers posted a leadoff single and eventually crossed the dish on a wild pitch, followed by an RBI-single by Cole, which scored sophomore Emily Bransky giving the Mavericks a 3-1 lead after six complete innings.

Freshman pitcher Coley Ries earned the win, improving to 20-3 on the season, as she went all seven innings allowing one run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Offensively, the Mavericks scored three runs on nine hits and neither team committed an error. Individually, Cole paced the MSU offensive attack scoring one run on four hits with one RBI.

Cole continued swinging the hot stick in the second game of the day as she connected on her sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning, scoring fellow senior Lindsay Erickson giving the Mavericks a 2-0 lead. The Mavericks were able to add an additional run in the bottom of the first inning as freshman Samantha Buhmann scored off a sacrifice fly by sophomore Abby Whritenour pushing the lead to 3-0 after the first inning of play.

MSU added four runs on three hits and two SCSU errors in the bottom of the second inning pushing its lead to 7-0 after two complete innings. Bransky, Erickson, Holien and Cole all made their way across the dish in the inning.

The Huskies added one run on three hits in the top of the fifth inning cutting the Mavericks' lead to 7-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, where the Mavericks were able to capitalize in walk-off fashion as sophomore Chelsea Riordan recorded a two-RBI single to finish the game as freshman Dana Mogren and Bransky each plated runs giving MSU the 9-1 victory in five innings.

Junior pitcher Brittany Lauterbach improved to 18-5 on the season, she pitched all five innings allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts.

Cole once again paced the Maverick offensive attack in game two, as she scored two runs on two hits with two RBI. As a unit, MSU posted nine runs on nine hits with three St. Cloud State errors.

The Mavericks return to action Saturday as they host Minnesota Duluth in the regular season finale, opening pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. at the MSU Softball Diamond.