MANKATO, Minn. - The Minnesota State softball team (24-12, 8-2 NSIC) moved into second place in the NSIC standings with two wins over the UMary Marauders (9-26, 2-8 NSIC) on Saturday at the Maverick All-Sports Dome. 

The Mavericks cruised to a win in game one, 8-0, as sophomore starter Maddie Oetzmann pitched a three-hit five-inning shutout. The Marauders had one baserunner reach scoring position in their 25th loss of the season. Maverick first baseman Gianna Lara crushed her team-leading fourth homer of 2025 over the fence in left field in the third inning. Senior third baseman Cheyenne Behrends hit 2-5 in game one and drove in five RBI, including a bases clearing triple in the fifth inning. She was hit home for the game-securing run by sophomore shortstop Izzy Hycnar. 

She would come up clutch again in game two with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave Minnesota State its first lead of the game after trailing by a run for the first five innings. Hycnar ended the day batting 3-5 at the plate with two RBI.

Game 1 vs UMary - W, MSU 8, MARY 0 (5 Innings)

W: Maddie Oetzmann (6-3) L: Hailey Altenhof (2-5)

The Marauders put two on with a walk and a well-executed bunt single to start game one. The next UMary batter attempted to bunt, but the ball hit her on her way to first, an automatic out. Then, senior third baseman Behrends dug out a ground ball, stepped on third for the force out then fired the ball to first for the double play. 

Minnesota State leadoff hitter, Carly Kimmes reached on an errant throw by the UMary shortstop, then she stole second to get into scoring position. Sophomore shortstop Hycnar walked after falling behind 0-2, but a swing-and-miss strike three and a groundout to short ended the first inning. 

Freshman Hannah Tong singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the second after a scoreless top of the inning. Maddie Helin drew a walk, and Oetzmann laid down a bunt that allowed the runners to move up to second and third with one out before Marina Carter, senior center fielder, bunted for a single. Kimmes hit a pitch sharply to left, but right to the Marauder outfielder for out number two, then Behrends smacked a single into shallow centerfield to score both Tong and Helin which made it a 2-0 game after the first two innings. 

In the top of the third, Kelsey Mischel hit a lead off double that narrowly landed in fair territory down the left field line. She advanced to second on a stolen base, but a fly out retired the side. After a fly out which led off the bottom frame, Lara went yard on a no-doubter over the fence in left center field to put the Mavericks up 3-0. It was her team-leading fourth homer of 2025. 

Helin hit a two-out double off the wall in right in the bottom of the third, but a pop up ended the inning. On the flip side, the Marauders put a runner on with a single, but Kimmes turned a 4-3 double play to send the game to the bottom of four. 

Carter led off the Mavericks in the fourth with a bunt single. She stole second, but was caught off the base pads on a fielder's choice. The replacement on the bases, Kimmes, stole second as well, and Hycnar drew a walk, but the Marauder third baseman made a solid play on a sharp line drive hit right to her to send the game to the fifth inning. Minnesota State still held a 3-0 lead. 

Oetzmann picked up her fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game in the top of the fifth, and a fly out to right retired the Marauders. Tong hit her second single of the game in the bottom of the inning with one out, and an error from the UMary shortstop allowed Helin to reach and moved the freshman up to second. Sailor Hall pinch ran for Tong, then Oetzmann hit an infield single to load the bases. A fielder's choice hit back to the pitcher allowed UMary to step on home with the ball to prevent a run from crossing, but the bags were still occupied by Maverick baserunners. Kimmes drew a walk to score the runner from third, then Behrends launched a pitch over the right fielder's glove for a three-RBI triple to give MSU a 7-0 lead. Hycnar hit a bouncer up the middle to score her teammate from third to end game one, as Minnesota State won 8-0 in five innings. 

Behrends was outstanding in game one, as she had two hits and drove in five RBI. Tong and Carter had two hits, also. Kimmes, Lara and Hycnar drove in the remaining three runs with base hits of differing variety. 

Oetzmann was great in the circle allowing just three hits in five innings of scoreless softball. She struck out five Marauders. 

Game 2 vs UMary - W, MSU 2, MARY 1

W: Sophia Del Vecchio (3-0) L: Elyssa Verploegen

After a one out single, the Marauders put their first run of the day on the board in the first with an RBI double from Janelle Bergmann to deep left center. In the bottom of the inning, Kimmes reached on a throw that took the first baseman's foot off the bag, but a 4-6-3 double play took the tying run off the base pads. Hycnar got a two-out single at the plate, but a strikeout ended the inning.

UMary led off the second with back-to-back singles, then a well-hit double from Ariane Sims forced the Marauder third base coach to send the runner from second, but she was thrown at the plate on a nice relay from Helin and Lara. The next batter attempted to lay down a squeeze bunt to score the runner from third, but Behrends back-handed the ball to Ryanne Mellum behind the plate, who easily tagged out the runner for the second out of the inning. Brianne Stone struck out the following Marauder to get out of the inning unscathed. 

Helin drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the second, but it didn't lead to much as a grounder to the UMary second baseman sent the game to inning three. A leadoff single forced a Maverick pitching change in the top of the third and the runner advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. A grounder back to Sophia Del Vecchio and another to Hycnar ended the first frame of the third. The Marauders held a 1-0 lead. 

Carter reached on her third hit of the afternoon, a bunt down the third base line, then stole to reach scoring position with no outs in the bottom of three. She advanced to third on a groundout to second base, but a blooper hit to short was caught by the Marauder shortstop to send game two to the fourth.

After a 1-2-3 inning for Del Vecchio and the Maverick defense in the top of the fourth, Tong hit a two-out double off the wall in right center in the bottom frame, but Helin was just ahead of a strike three pitch to end the inning. 

The Marauders had a pair of two-out singles to put two runners in scoring position, but a fly out to Kurstyn Patnode in left secured out three and sent the game to the middle of the fifth. She reached on an error by the Mary first baseman to lead off the bottom half of the inning and she got to second with a stolen base, her fourth of the year. Carter made it to first on a walk, then Kimmes sacrificed herself and moved the baserunners up a bag with a bunt, then Behrends did the same thing to tie the game up at 1-1. With two outs and a runner on third, Hycnar singled to shallow center field, good enough to score the blazing Carter from third to give MSU a one-run lead headed into the sixth inning. 

Mary's Francesca Villaneda got her third hit of the day on a single through the left side. Another single put two runners on but a force out at second ended the inning for the Maverick defense. In the bottom of the sixth, Lara cracked a single up the middle for her first hit of game two, which was followed up by another single up the middle from Tong. A sacrifice bunt from Helin moved both runners into scoring position. A fielder's choice got the runner out at third, and another grounder ended the inning. Minnesota State went into the seventh with a one-run lead with the top of the order due up for UMary. 

The lead off batter in the top of the seven hit the ball to the warning track but it was caught by Carter in center field. The next batter hit a grounder to third, it ricocheted off Behrends' glove, bounced the Hycnar at short and she fired the ball to first to get the runner out which put two away. UMary got a hit off, a single to center, but a fielder's choice at second secured the 2-1 victory for the Mavericks. 

Hycnar and Tong each had two hits in game two. The sophomore shortstop had the game-winning RBI, her second of the day, and Behrends had the other. Lara and Carter both had hits, as well. 

Stone pitched two innings, allowed six hits and one run. She struck out two batters. Del Vecchio pitched five scoreless innings of relief and struck out one batter. 

"In game one the bats came alive and our defense was solid and we controlled it," said Maverick head coach Lori Meyer following the sweep. "Game two was different; [Del Vecchio] came in and did her job well in relief. That is what we need from our staff. On offense, we did enough to get two runs across and we made things happen." 

Coach Meyer highlighted the pair of outs prevented on squeeze plays: "Those were huge plays for us, they prevented us from going down three."

Minnesota State will play another trio of conference double headers next week. On Tuesday, April 1, the Mavericks will host Concordia-St. Paul (16-19, 8-2 NSIC) in Mankato. Then, the team travels up to Minnesota Crookston (13-22, 1-7 NSIC) for a pair of games on Saturday, April 5. On Sunday, April 6, MSU will play at Bemidji State (14-16, 1-5 NSIC). All games are currently scheduled to be played at noon and 2:00 p.m.