Mankato, Minn. --- Minnesota State completed a pair of rematch games against Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, a 7-0 Win, and Emporia State Hornets,  a game played as a road game for MSU, a 12-7 win, in day two of the Minnesota State DII Softball Classic.

With the results, the Mavericks move to 3-1 on the season while the Bearcats fall to 2-2 and the Hornets move to 1-3. 

Game 1

Junior Mackenzie Ward (2-0) started the game for Minnesota State, and earned the win, throwing a complete game shutout while only allowing three hits and striking out nine batters.  The shutout is Ward's second of the season in as many starts.  Rachel Smith (1-1) started for the Bearcats and took the loss, pitching six innings and allowing seven runs, three of them earned, on seven hits.

After a leadoff single, Carly Esselman advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches before being hit in on a single from Torey Richards to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  In the second, Kayla Moky brought home Sydney Nelson from third base with a sharp single up the middle, extending the MSU lead to 2-0. 

The Mavericks were able to tack on pair of runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 4-0 while the defense kept the Bearcats completely at bay.  MSU once again kept adding to the lead in the sixth inning, plating three more runs to get to the final tally of 7-0 for the game. 

Courtney Potter finished the game 2-3 with two runs scored while Esselman finished 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Emma Schifferle and Potter each stole a base in the game.

Game 2

Katie Bracken (0-1) started the game for Minnesota State, but did not record a decision pitching 1.2 innings allowing five runs on seven hits.  McKayla Armbruster (1-0) recorded the win for the Mavericks in relief, pitching 5.1 innings allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Josie Harrison (0-1) started for Emporia State, allowing seven runs, four of them earned, on five hits, to take the loss.

The Mavericks wasted no time against the Hornets and playing as the road team Esselman drilled a solo homer over the center field fence.    MSU manufactured several opportunities with singles, stolen bases and aggressive baserunning, plating eight more runs in the opening inning to gain the early 9-0 lead.  ESU responded in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs which cut the Maverick lead to 9-2.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Hornets picked up three more runs with a two-out rally that saw Armbruster enter the game in relief at pitcher.  After a scoreless third and fourth inning, Forshee drilled a single through the middle that scored Esselman and Moky to push the Maverick lead to 11-5.  The MSU defense also clamped down on the game with Armbruster retiring ten straight batters before allowing a single in the sixth.

The Hornets scraped across two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Maverick lead to 11-7.  In the top of the seventh, MSU added a run when Madi Newman singled through the middle to bring Esselman home. 

Esselman finished the game 4-5 from the plate with four runs scored and two RBI including the leadoff homerun.  Forshee finished 3-5 from the plate including three RBI and a run scored. 

Minnesota State will return to action tomorrow afternoon when it will wrap up the Minnesota State DII Softball Classic with a matchup against Lewis University with first pitch scheduled for 1:15 p.m.