Mankato, Minn. ---    The Minnesota State softball team earned two more wins on Sunday afternoon at the MSU Softball Diamond after sweeping the University of Mary by the scores of 8-0 and 11-1. 

The Mavericks overall record improves to 35-12 and 18-5 in NSIC play.

In game one, the Mavericks defeated the Marauders 8-0 in five innings. MSU's offense tallied 11 hits in the win, including five extra base hits. 

Junior pitcher Coley Ries [20-5] earned the win after throwing five innings and striking out nine batters, while allowing just one hit. Sophomore pitcher Libby Bemis came in relief in the sixth and threw one scoreless inning and picked up one strikeout.

U-Mary's Melanie Rodriguez [6-14] suffered the loss as she allowed three earned runs and five hits in four innings.

The Mavericks pushed across one run right away in the first as freshman McKenzie Paap began the inning with a lead-off triple to left field and she would come home a few batters later when junior Dana Mogren grounded out to the shortstop to bring Paap home.

Two more runs in the second were scored after senior Karli DesLauriers ripped a two-RBI triple to right center that scored sophomore Kara Lattery and junior Ashley Thell on the play.

In the fourth sophomore Jess Meidl singled to center field and few batters later DesLauriers recorded a double down the left field line to put two runners on with two outs. Paap was next in the batters box and she delivered a two-RBI single up the middle to score Meidl and DesLauriers. After four innings, the Mavericks led 5-0 over the Marauders.

MSU's final three runs came in the bottom of the sixth. Meidl was on third and pinch runner Alyssa Rickels was on second with one out and Paap was up to at-bat again. Paap added to her statline as she recorded her third RBI of the game when she ripped a single up the middle to score Meidl. On that same play, Paap advanced to second and Rickels moved to third. Senior Tatum Klein was up next for MSU and she ended the game as she notched to a two-RBI double to right field to score Rickels and Paap.

Paap finished the game 3-for-3 from the plate and added three RBI, two runs scored and a walk. DesLauriers and Klein each recorded two hits and two RBI in the win, while Meidl  chipped in with two hits and two runs scored.

In the second game of the day, MSU defeated U-Mary 11-1 in five innings. The Maverick offense continued to perform well as they tallied 13 more hits in the win.

Coley Ries [21-5] got the start in game two and she picked up her second win of the day as she threw three innings and fanned six batters, while allowing just one earned run and three hits. Libby Bemis again came in relief for Ries in the fourth and she threw two scoreless innings, while striking out three batters.

In the bottom of the first the Mavericks scored two runs after stringing together three hits in the inning. Tatum Klein notched MSU's first hit of the game with a infield single to the shortstop. Klein would then move over to third after Dana Mogren hit a single through the right side. Mogren then successfully stole second a little bit later and on that same play Klein used some heads-up base running and scored the Mavericks first run of the game. A couple of batters later, Mogren scored MSU's second run of the game, when Ashley Thell hit an RBI-single down the right field line.

The Marauders scored their lone run of the game in the top of the second when Kylie Alto hit a solo home run down the left field line to cut the MSU's lead down to one, 2-1. 

In the next inning, MSU rebounded nicely as it piled on five more runs on five hits. Freshman Cori Kennedy and Alyssa Rickels started the inning with back-to-back singles and then Karli DesLauriers reached base safely on a fielder's choice. On that same play, Kennedy would score the first run of the inning after a throwing error from U-Mary. McKenzie Paap was next up and she continued to swing a hot bat as she drove in Rickels from third  and she would advance to second, while DesLauriers moved over to third on the play. A couple of batters later with one out, Mogren laid down a perfect bunt single to the pitcher that scored DesLauriers and moved Paap over to third. After a another stolen base from Mogren, junior Samantha Buhmann drove in another run as she grounded out to the second baseman which allowed Paap to cross the plate. One more run came across for the Mavericks in the inning when Thell belted an RBI-double to right center that scored Mogren on the play.

One more run was scored by the Maverick in the third when Paap delivered another RBI after hitting a single to left field that scored Kennedy from third.

MSU's final three runs of the game came in the bottom of the fourth off the bat of Jess Meidl. The Mavericks first three batters of the inning reached safely to load the bases for Meidl and she delivered a three-RBI, bases clearing double that scored Mogren, Buhmann and Thell on the play.

Thell closed out the game 3-for-3 from the plate and tallied two RBI and one run scored, while Paap collected two hits, two RBI and a run scored. Mogren also went 2-for-2 from the plate and ended with team-high's of three runs scored and two stolen bases.

The Purple and Gold will close out its regular season home schedule with a doubleheader against Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday. Game times are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the MSU Softball Diamond.