MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State softball team won both of its games on Friday in the first day of the MSU Dome Tournament. First, the Mavericks (2-0) pulled away in a back-and-forth game with Concordia-St. Paul (0-2) to win 7-3. In the second game, some excellent defensive play and a towering home run from Gianna Lara were enough to pull off a 2-0 victory over a hot Minnesota Duluth (4-2) team.
 
Game 1 vs Concordia-St. Paul: MSU 7, CSP 3
W: Del Vecchio (1-0)    L: Bowne (0-1)   S: Oetzmann (1)
Alexis Monty for CSP kicked off the tournament with a single up the middle but got doubled up after a pop fly and a routine play for second baseman Rhyan Fritz got the Mavericks out of the inning.
 
In the bottom half of the first, Maddie Helin drew a leadoff walk and stole second with two outs. Lara hit the ball back to the pitcher, but she made an error getting the ball to first, which scored Helin from second base. Cheyenne Behrends singled up the middle, followed by a walk that loaded the bases, but a groundout retired the side.
The Golden Bears put two on early with a single and a hit by pitch with no outs. The two baserunners pulled off a double steal to advance to second and third. Starting pitcher Sailor Hall struck out the next batter on three straight strikes, but Concordia tied it up on a fielder's choice, 1-1. MSU got the next out with on fielder's choice to home which prevented a run, but the Golden Bears loaded the bases with a walk. Fortunately for the Mavericks, Monty lined out to right field to end the top of the second.
 
Hall led off the third inning with a three-pitch strikeout and punched out the next batter, as well, to get two quick outs. Behrends snagged a sharply hit ball to third and threw out the runner for the first 1-2-3 inning of the game.
 
After a quick bottom of the third and top of the fourth, Maddie Oetzmann drew a leadoff walk and Kurstyn Patnode pinch ran for her and stole second. Patnode advanced to third on a groundout, then Helin got to first on a two-out walk. Patnode scored from third on a wild pitch and Ella Schulz knocked home Helin with a single to left field. After four, Minnesota State led 3-1.
 
A walk and an error at short put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the fifth. Senior pitcher Sophia Del Vecchio entered the game and a fly out to right advanced the runners to second and third with two outs. Sydney Pelzer for CSP smacked a two-RBI double to tie it back up, 3-3. Izzy Hycnar made a nice throw from shortstop to end the inning.
 
Lara drew a leadoff walk to start the top of the fifth, then Behrends reached on an error which put runners on second and third with nobody out. Hycnar laid down a beautiful bunt which scored both runners. She was thrown out trying to stretch it to second for the first out of the inning, but MSU took a 5-3 lead.
 
Oetzmann came in to pitch and struck out the leadoff batter in the top of the sixth. CSP got a runner on base with a sharp single hit to left, and a walk put runners on first and second. Oetzmann struck out another hitter and threw out another at first after a blooper in front of the plate.
 
Helin led off the bottom of the sixth with a hit that fell down the right field line. She stole second, then Lara hit her home with an RBI double to right center. Behrends hit her home from second base to put the Mavericks up 7-3.
 
Monty smacked a base hit right down the right field to kick off the seventh, but a fielder's choice got her out as a teammate replaced her on first base. After another fielder's choice to get the Golden Bears down to their last out, Fritz made a routine play to end the game.
 
Behrends was the only player with multiple hits for Minnesota State. She drove in one RBI. Helin, Schulz, Lara, Oetzmann and Fritz each ended the game with one hit. Schulz, Lara and Hycnar ended the game with one RBI a-piece. Helin scored three runs in the game. Along with her hit, she walked twice.
 
Hall pitched 4.1 innings, allowed two hits, three runs (one earned), walked two batters and struck out four batters. Del Vecchio's two outs earned her the win in the game. Oetzmann came in and got the save with two strikeouts.
 
Game 2 vs Minnesota Duluth: MSU 2, UMD 0
W: Oetzmann (1-0)       L: Williams (1-2)             S: Brandt (1)
Oetzmann started game two and after she retired the first two hitters, the Bulldogs put two runners on, but she struck out the third out to keep it scoreless in the top half of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, Helin was hit by a pitch to reach first, then stole second to get into scoring position. She advanced to third on a groundout, then Sailor Hall got her first RBI in a Maverick uniform with a well-hit flyout to right center, which scored Helin from third to put MSU up 1-0 early.
 
UMD put a runner on base in the top of the third, but Hycnar snagged a sharply hit lineout and caught the baserunner off the bag for a double play. The inning ended on a foul out. In the bottom half of the third, Helin hit a two-out double, but a line out ended the inning with the score still 1-0.
 
Lara smacked a pitch over the right field fence to lead off the bottom of the fourth to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead.
 
Morgan McMillan singled up the middle to start the top of the sixth, then NSIC Player of the Week Nicole Schmitt hit a single down the left field line to put runners on first and second with one out. Minnesota State then brought in Chloe Brandt to pitch, she got another out, then Hall rifled a well-hit ball to left on a rope to home plate, where Emma Dennison made the tag to prevent a run and end the inning.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, consecutive walks put runners on first and second with one out for Minnesota State, but a fielder's choice kept the runners in the same position with two outs. Brandt struck out to end the inning to send it to the seventh.
 
The first Bulldog hitter of the seventh flew out, then Brandt struck out the next hitter to get the first two outs. She got the third UMD hitter to a 3-2 count before a pop up to third base ended the game.
 
Lara and Behrends each had multi-hit games against Minnesota Duluth. Lara's homer gave her a second RBI on the day. Hall's sacrifice fly in the first inning was the only other RBI in the game. Hycnar also had a base hit with a double to right center.
 
Oetzmann was great in the pitcher's circle, as she allowed no runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings of work and struck out five batters. Brandt got the save with 1.2 innings of one-hit scoreless softball. She also ended the game with one strikeout.
 
Minnesota Duluth's nine hits were the most by the Bulldogs in a shutout since April 2016.
 
"In game one," said legendary Minnesota State head coach Lori Meyer, "our base running set the tone and allowed things to happen in our favor. It is a critical part of our offense. In game two, it was all about the details. I thought our defense was solid all day and we had some real momentum breakers. Our team was pretty even keel all day, not too high, not too low. When we play relaxed with laughter and smiles and we settle in, this team is really talented."
 
The MSU Dome Tournament continues tomorrow, Saturday, February 8 at the Maverick All-Sports Dome in Mankato. The first game starts at 10 a.m. and will feature Minnesota Duluth taking on Concordia-St. Paul. Then, the Mavericks will close out the day with a game against CSP at 12:30 p.m. and another against UMD at 3 p.m.