Photo credit: photos.paap.net

SALEM, V.A. --- The second-seeded Minnesota State softball team bounced fourth-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan, 5-2, to advance to the best of three NCAA Championship Finals Saturday night.

With the win, Minnesota State moves to 62-7 and advances to the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time in program history. The Mavericks will square off with one seed Angelo State tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. (CST) in a best of three series. With the loss, West Virginia Wesleyan finishes the season with a 51-10 overall record.

Senior Coley Ries (38-3) earned the win with eight strikeouts in a complete game. Senior Sayaka Foley (18-4) takes the loss with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. Junior Hannah Vet finished the game for the Bobcats with one strikeout.

West Virginia Wesleyan jumped out to a quick 1-0 advantage after senior Olivia Gore singled to the right side scoring senior Brooklyn Waddell. However, the Minnesota State defense rebounded to finish the frame strong stranding two Bobcat runners.

Minnesota State got things rolling offensively in the second stanza as junior Alyssa Rickels drove a single to right field allowing senior Dana Mogren to get across to the tying run, 1-1. The Mavericks attempted to pull away later inning but left two runners stranded. One inning later, junior Jess Meidl gave Minnesota State its first lead of the game, 2-1, as she stole third base and then advanced home after a wild throw.

The Mavericks tried to pull away in the top half of the fifth inning getting two runners on base. Rickels was able to beat a throw to first base and then one batter later, Meidl blasted a hit to the right side finding her way on base. However, the Mavericks could not capitalize on the opportunity leaving both stranded later in the frame.

Minnesota State added a couple insurance runs to make the score 4-1 in the seventh frame as senior Ashley Thell crushed her seventh home run of the season to right center sending Rickels home. The Mavericks continued to ride momentum in the inning after senior Samantha Buhmann doubled down the left field line to send freshman Caitlin stone across, 5-1.  The Bobcats retaliated to pull within three, 5-2, as freshman Marilyn Maas was able to score a run late in the inning. However, Ries went on to close out the game and seal the 5-2 win.

Minnesota State posted 11 hits as a team while West Virginia Wesleyan totaled five. Rickels led the Mavericks with a game-high three hits. Freshman Carly Esselman (2) and Meidl (2) both reached double digit hits to round out the top performers.