Emporia, Kan. --- Minnesota State split a pair of games Thursday, defeating Northeastern State 2-0 before falling to Central Missouri 10-1, on the first day of the Emporia State Softball Classic.
With the split, the Mavericks move to 13-7 on the season in advance of a pair of games scheduled for tomorrow.
MSU began the day with a 2-0 win over Northeastern State. Sophomore
Mackenzie Ward (6-6) earned the win on the day after allowing only one hit and a walk in seven innings pitched, striking out seven batters.
The Mavericks got on the board in the first inning when
Carly Esselman hit a sacrifice fly that scored
McKenzie Paap and
Amber Kral hit a single through the left side that scored Courtney Potter.
Northeastern State struggled all day with the pitching and defense of the Mavericks before breaking up Ward's no hit bid in the sixth inning but would not be able to cut into the Minnesota State lead resulting in the 2-0 win for the Mavericks.
Kral went 2-3 at the plate, including a run batted to lead the Minnesota State offense.
Minnesota State finished its day with a 10-1 loss to the Central Missouri Jennies (12-9).
Julia Bastian (4-1) took the loss for the Mavericks after allowing four hits and four runs in 1.1 innings of action while Alexa Bradley (5-3) got the win for the Jennies.
The Jennies scored early and often on the day with two runs in the first and second innings, a run in the fourth, and a run in the sixth before the Mavericks got on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the sixth inning,
Esselman doubled to left center to bring Courtney Potter home for the first Minnesota State run.
Central Missouri added four more runs in the seventh and the Mavericks couldn't bring any more runners across the plate, giving the Jennies the 10-1 win.
Senior outfielder
Paap went 2-4 from the plate and stole her 100
th career base in the game which is third all-time among Maverick players.
Minnesota State returns to action tomorrow with first pitch against Pittsburg State scheduled for 10:00 a.m. before taking on host team Emporia State at 3:00 p.m.