Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Minnesota State softball team (17-11, 1-1 NSIC) split its opening double-header against Northern State (7-16, 1-1 NSIC) Friday to kick off its NSIC regular season.
 
Game one was a back-and-forth game until the Wolves' Aune Boben hit a three-RBI double to give the home team a 4-2 lead. She homered in the sixth to secure Northern State's win, despite a comeback from the Mavericks that came up short. Boben hit 3-7 at the plate on Friday with two home runs, a double and six RBI. In game two, MSU fended off the Wolves with 11 runs between the sixth and seventh innings for a 15-4 win on the road, the first conference win of the season.
 
Freshman Hannah Tong was excellent for the Mavericks against NSU. She went 5-7 at the plate with three RBI. Tong reached base five times in game two. Reigning NSIC Player of the Week Finley Anderson continued her excellent stretch at the plate. She went 4-7 between the two games to extend her hitting streak to 12 games and drove in three RBI, also.
 
Game 1 vs Northern State: L, NSU 6, MSU 4
W: Abby Rux (4-8)          L: Sailor Hall (7-4)
The Mavericks got on the board right away in the first inning. Carly Kimmes drew a leadoff walk, then stole second. After the next two batters struck out, Ella Schulz hit her home on an RBI single to centerfield to put MSU up 1-0. The Wolves threatened with a base runner in the bottom of the first, but she didn't make it past first base.
 
Maddie Helin hit a single in the top of the second and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Kimmes doubled down the right field line to score Helin from second to give the Mavericks a two-run lead. Despite a pair of singles from Northern State in the bottom frame, a pair of outs hit to second base ended the inning for the Wolves.
 
After a scoreless third, Hannah Tong and Kimmes reached base on a single up the middle and a walk, respectively, but NSU was able to get out of the top of the fourth unscathed after a fielder's choice. Northern State had back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth. Another base hit through the left side loaded the bases, then Maverick starting pitcher Sailor Hall struck out the next batter, but an infield error scored one run and an RBI double from Boben scored three to give Northern State a 4-2 lead through four.
 
Both teams put a pair of runners on in the fifth inning, but neither team brought any runners across. Marina Carter smacked a triple down the left field line in the top of the sixth and Kimmes drew a walk and stole second, but the Wolves got a pop up and a strikeout to retire the side with the scoreboard unharmed. Northern State hit a leadoff double in the bottom frame, then Boben hit a two-run homer to right center to give the Wolves a 6-2 lead headed into the seventh.
 
Gianna Lara hit a one-out single in the top of the seventh for her third hit of game one, and Kurstyn Patnode pinch ran for her. Izzy Hycnar also singled, and a bad throw advanced the runners to second and third. Tong knocked both of them in with a two-RBI double to cut it to 6-4, but a pop-up and a line out ended the game.
 
Lara went 3-4 at the plate in game one with three singles. Both Tong and Carter had multi-hit games as well. Tong led the team with two RBI in the first game of the conference season. Schulz and Kimmes also drove in an RBI each. Kimmes had a hit, three walks, two stolen bases and a run scored.
 
In the circle, Hall allowed four runs on six hits over 3.2 innings of work. She struck out three NSU batters. Sophia Del Vecchio allowed two runs on three hits in the remaining 2.1 innings for Minnesota State.
 
Game 2 vs Northern State: W, MSU 15, NSU 4
W: Brianne Stone (3-3)               L: Dessa Bryant (0-1)
Kimmes drew a leadoff walk again to start game two. She advanced to second on her third stolen base of the afternoon, then she moved up to third on a fly out. Kimmes scored on a passed ball to give MSU an early 1-0 lead, but Boben hit her second homer of the afternoon to tie it up after one.
 
The Mavericks got back on the board in the third inning as a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases with nobody out. Schulz was hit by a pitch to tip the score back in MSU's favor, then Lara hit a sacrifice fly to center which scored Cheyenne Behrends from third to put the team up 3-1.
 
Tong walked to reach base in the top of the fourth, then a bunt single from Helin moved her to third after an errant throw by the Wolf second baseman. After a failed attempt to squeeze in a run, a groundout from Kimmes scored the runner to put Minnesota State up three, 4-1.
 
Northern State immediately responded with a single down the right field line, then a batter was hit by a pitch, which was followed up by a huge three-run homer from Avarie Eagle to tie the game up at 4-4 through four innings.
 
After a scoreless fifth, the Mavericks got busy in the sixth. Tong hit a leadoff single, then a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with no one out. The Wolves prevented a run from scoring on a fielder's choice, but hit the Maverick batter to load the bases. Again, Northern State got the out at home on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, but up came reigning NSIC Player of the Week, Anderson. She smacked a single to right which scored three and gave her two RBI to give her team the lead, then an RBI double from Schulz scored her to make the score 8-4.
 
The inning continued, as Lara was hit by a pitch. Hycnar hit an RBI single up the middle to center field, then Tong singled to right to put another on the board for Minnesota State. When the top of the sixth finally ended, the Mavericks had opened up the game, 10-4.
 
In the top of the seventh, the team added some insurance runs to the board, as Carter led off the inning with a single and a stolen base to get into scoring position. Anderson hit her home with a single to left, she advanced to second on the throw to the plate, then the freshman phenom stole third. Northern State walked both Schulz and Lara and a passed ball scored Anderson from third. Hycnar doubled to center field to score both Lara and Schulz, who both advanced on the passed ball, to put MSU up by 10. Tong singled to left and Hycnar scored on a throwing error by the outfielder to give the Mavericks a 15-4 lead headed into the final half-inning.
 
Brianne Stone, senior Maverick pitcher who entered in the fourth inning, struck out all three batters she faced in the bottom of the seventh to secure the first conference victory for Minnesota State in 2025. In her four innings in the circle, the allowed no runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. Starter Chloe Brandt allowed four runs on four hits with three Ks.
 
Anderson and Tong both had huge game twos. Anderson went 3-3 at the plate with three RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Tong also went 3-3 and had one RBI in game two. Hycnar was 2-5 at the plate with three RBI and Schulz went 1-3 with a two-run double. Kimmes and Lara also had one RBI a-piece for Minnesota State.
 
"Stone coming in and pitching four shutout innings that gave us the opportunity to stay in the game and allow the offense to respond in the sixth and seventh," responded Minnesota State head coach Lori Meyer when asked what the biggest part of the victory and game two was. "I liked our fight and resilience today in both games. Even in game one we fought back and left runners on at the end."
 
The Mavericks continue their stretch on the road tomorrow with a double-header against MSU Moorhead (8-21, 0-2 NSIC). Game one against the Dragons begins at noon and game two will start around 2:00 p.m. following the conclusion of the first.