St. Joseph, Mo. --- The Minnesota State softball team added to it wins column on Friday afternoon, as it picked up two wins on its first day of competition at the Apple Market Classic. The Mavericks began the day with a 6-0 win over Washburn, before defeating Missouri Southern State 9-1 in five innings.

With the two wins, the Mavericks improve their overall record to 15-5 on the season.

In the 6-0 win over Washburn, junior Coley Ries [9-3] extended her scoreless inning streak to 26 innings as she pitched a one-hit, complete game shutout, while striking out 15 batters. Junior Samantha Carson [5-5] suffered the loss for the Ichabods as she surrendered 10 hits, two walks and six earned runs. 

The Mavericks started quickly in the game as they pushed across two runs in the top of the first. MSU was able to load the bases with two outs for Cori Kennedy and the freshman delivered a two-RBI single to left field that brought home freshman McKenzie Paap and sophomore Jess Meidl.

Heading into the top of the sixth the score still remained at 2-0, until Meidl belted a two-run home run to right field that pushed across junior Dana Mogren as well. The scoring in the inning wasn't over yet for MSU though, as a couple of batters later sophomore Kelly Grove tallied a RBI single through the left side that let sophomore Kara Lattery come racing home from second. After six innings the Mavericks led 5-0 over the Ichabods.

In the final inning MSU pushed across its sixth run of the game. Senior Tatum Klein led-off the inning with a single to right field and eventually advanced to second base on a stolen base. Klein then soon advanced to third base after Paap laid down a sac bunt in the Mavericks next at-bat. Advancing the runner paid off for MSU as its next batter, Mogren, notched a sacrifice fly to center field which let Klein cross home plate.

Meidl led the Mavericks offense in the win, as she finished 2-of-3 from the plate and also recorded two runs scored, two RBI and one walk. 

In the second game of the day MSU defeated Missouri Southern State, 9-1, in five innings that included an eight run scoring outburst in the fifth.

The Maverick offense batted around in the eight run, fifth inning as they piled up five hits and took advantage of three Lion errors. Senior Karli DesLauriers got the scoring going for the Mavericks in the inning as she brought in pinch runner Alyssa Rickels in from third after reaching on an error. A couple of batters later MSU loaded the bases for Dana Mogren and she delivered a two-RBI single to center field that scored DesLauriers and Tatum Klein. 

A couple of other highlights of the inning was when Cori Kennedy ripped a two-RBI single to left field that brought home Jess Meidl and Mogren. Lastly, the 11th batter of the of the inning for MSU was senior Emily Bransky and she closed out the game with a two-RBI single through the right side that helped Kennedy and Kelly Grove cross the plate.

Earlier in the game MSU scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Kara Lattery singled to center field that scored Mogren from second. 

Before the Mavericks scoring outburst in the bottom of the fifth the Lions evened the score up at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. MSSU's Myranda Stewart belted a solo shot to left field to tie it up.

Sophomore Libby Bemis [6-2] earned the win for the Mavericks as she threw a complete game after striking out five players and allowing just three hits. For the Lions, Sarah Williams [0-1] suffered the loss after pitching 4.1 innings and allowing six hits. 

Mogren finished 2-of-3 from the plate and added two RBI and two runs scored. Kennedy also went 2-of-3 in the game and tallied two RBI and one run scored.

Two more games are on tap for the Mavericks on Saturday at the Apple Market Classic. They will take on a couple of familiar opponents from earlier this season against Emporia State and Central Missouri. MSU will first take on ESU at 11:00 a.m. before turning its attention to UCM at 3:00 p.m.