MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State softball team split against U-Mary (5-8, 17-2) in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon.
In game one, U-Mary (17-18, 8-14 NSIC) outlasted Minnesota State (33-15, 14-10 NSIC), 8-5, snapping the Mavericks 32-game win streak at the MSU Softball Diamond dating back to 2015 against Wayne State on April 26. Freshman pitcher
Mackenzie Ward (19-8) made the start and saw 2.0 innings of action. Sophomore
Caitlin Stone checked in for 3.0 innings of work and tossed a game-high four strikeouts. Freshman
Lexi Schoper also appeared to finish the final 2.0 innings. Junior Brieann Backes earned the win for the Marauders with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
U-Mary started the scoring in the first inning pushing three runs across to get on the scoreboard first, 3-0. Sophomore Emma Noble added to the Marauder edge in the second frame with a RBI double to right field to make the score 4-0.
Freshman
Julia Bastian provided a spark for Minnesota State in the fourth inning with a three RBI home run to left field. It was her second homer of the season and sent freshman
Torey Richards and
Morgan Keim-Wolfe home to bring the Mavericks within one, 4-3. Freshman Lauren Lunt responded for the Marauders with a two RBI double to center field pushing their advantage back up to 6-3 in the fifth inning.
Freshman
Hannah McCarville answered for the Mavericks with a double of her own to center field, but got tagged out third. The hit allowed junior
McKenzie Paap and senior
Jessica Meidl to beat the throw home and cut the deficit to one, 6-5, in the fifth frame. However, U-Mary notched an insurance run in the sixth and seventh innings put the game out of reach, 8-5.
Paap and Richards chipped in a game-high three hits with one run each. Minnesota State posted 10 hits as a team in comparison to U-Mary's 12.
In game two, the Mavericks used a nine run third inning to cruise past the Marauders, 17-2, in five innings. Ward got the start for Minnesota State and notched one strikeout in 4.0 innings. Sophomore
Bria Majeski finished the contest and registered one strikeout. Sophomore Madison Jahner (3-5) takes the loss for U-Mary with a game-high two strikeouts in 3.0 innings
Sophomore
Amber Kral began the scoring in the second frame with her eighth home run of the season to make the score 1-0. One inning later, U-Mary locked the contest, 1-1, with a run from sophomore Rebekkah Keller in the third frame.
Minnesota State then busted the game open with a nine run third inning on seven hits to regain the edge, 10-1. Meidl got the big inning started with her seventh home run of the season. The hit sent Keim-Wolfe and Esselman across for scores.
The Mavericks then took advantage of Marauder errors in the fourth inning posting seven runs on six hits. The stretch was highlighted by a Richards single to left center which scored Meidl to increase the edge to 17-1. U-Mary posted one run in the fifth frame, but Minnesota State went on to pick up the final out to seal the 17-2 win.
Meidl led the Mavericks with a season-high seven RBI. The outfielder also added a game-high four hits with two runs to her stat line. Additionally, Meidl tied
Ashley Thell (2014-17) on the MSU all-time games played list with 240. Kral (3), Richards (2) and Keim-Wolfe (2) also posted multiple hit games for Minnesota State. The Mavericks totaled 15 hits as a team in comparison to the Marauders four.
Minnesota State returns to action at the NSIC Softball Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., against Southwest Minnesota State on Thursday at Sherman Park. First pitch is set for 10:00 a.m.
.
