MANKATO, Minn. - The Minnesota State softball team (33-14, 17-4 NSIC) completed the sweep against St. Cloud State (34-13, 13-6 NSIC) Sunday afternoon with a pair of solid wins at home.

Senior centerfielder for the Mavericks, Marina Carter, went a perfect 6-6 at the plate Sunday with three runs scored and an RBI. Her batting average improves to .386 on the season, good for the team lead. Carter made several incredible catches to prevent hits and runs in the double header.

The Mavericks shut out the Huskies in game one as starting pitcher Brianne Stone struck out six en route to her 11th win of the season. Maddie Helin and Cheyenne Behrends each hit home runs in the first game, which helped the Mavericks win 6-0.

St. Cloud State got on the board first in game two with a couple runs in the top of the first, but the Mavericks scored in five consecutive innings to swing momentum back in favor of the home team. First baseman Gianna Lara hit her sixth homer of the season to get the scoring started in the game. She ended the day going 3-6 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored. 

Game 1 vs St. Cloud State: W, MSU 6, SCSU 0

W: Brianne Stone (11-4) L: Macey Clark (14-6)

The Husky lead off bat hit an opposite-field single to left to lead off the game, then she stole second to get into scoring position with one down. A fly ball was hit to deep left and tracked down by Kurstyn Patnode. The baserunner tagged and headed towards third, but Patnode passed the ball to Behrends at third, who got the tag for the double play to end the inning.

After the Mavericks were retired in order in the bottom of the first, the Huskies had another single in the second, but a ground out and a pop up to the infield sent game one to the bottom of the second. Helin led off the second with a home run smacked over the fence in right field for the first Maverick hit of the game. The Mavericks led 1-0. It was Helin's team-leading seventh homer of the season. 

The inning continued with a single through the left side from freshman Hannah Tong, but a fly out and a pop up sent it to the third. A two-out single from lead off Husky batter Reese Holzhueter in the top of three put a runner on, then an infield error put a second on the bags. Three-hole hitter Maggie Fitzgerald singled to left. The St. Cloud State third base coach sent Holzhueter, but Patnode made a great throw to the Maverick catcher Ryanne Mellum to get the runner out at the plate for out number three. 

Carter led off the bottom of the third with a single to left, then a bobble by the outfielder allowed her to stretch it to two. Behrends crushed her second homer of the season over the fence in left field to put Minnesota State up 3-0. It was the senior third baseman's 16th career home run in a Maverick uniform.

Izzy Hycnar followed up her fellow infielder's big hit with one of her own to deep left field. The Husky outfielder made a play on the ball at the fence, but it hit the fence, which made it a live ball and it was ruled a double. Helin drew the count full and walked the next at-bat, then Lara hit a bases-clearing double to left center to give the Mavericks a 5-0 lead through three innings.

A leadoff single and a one-out hit put runners on first and second for St. Cloud State in the fourth. Maverick starter Stone struck out her 60th batter of the season to get out number two and a fly out to Carter in center ended the Husky scoring threat. 

Patnode and Carter led off the bottom of the fourth with a pair of bunt singles to put two on with nobody out. Carly Kimmes laid down a bunt that died at the plate and stayed fair to move both the runners up a bag, then Behrends hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring Patnode across. Minnesota State led 6-0. 

St. Cloud State put a couple on with back-to-back walks with two gone in the fifth, but a fielder's choice hit to shortstop ended the Husky offensive situation. Lara hit a one-out walk in the bottom of the inning, but two fielder's choices retired the side. 

Carter hit her third single of the day and a bad throw to first allowed the speedy centerfielder to advance to third. A grounder to short led to Carter making a ditch for home, but she was tagged just before she slid through for out number two, then a deep fly ball from Behrends was caught at the fence for the third out of the inning. St. Cloud State had three outs remaining in game one. 

Stone struck out the side in the seventh to secure the shutout win, 6-0. The senior starter ended the game with six Ks and allowed seven hits in her 11th win of the season.

Carter went a perfect 3-3 in game one with one run scored. Lara had two hits and two RBI. Behrends drove in three runs including two with her homer. Helin's solo home run resulted in one RBI for the clean-up hitter. She scored twice.

Game 2 vs St. Cloud State: W, MSU 7, SCSU 5

W: Sophia Del Vecchio (5-0) L: Emma Eickhoff (15-1)

An error and a single put Huskies on first and second with one out in the top of the first, a fielder's choice secured out number two, but an RBI single from Bethany Weiss scored two for St. Cloud State.

After falling behind 2-0 in the opening frame, Hycnar hit a two-out single off the pitcher's glove, but a ground out ended the first inning.

After Maverick starter Sophia Del Vecchio retired the Huskies in order in the top of the second, Lara hit her sixth home run of the season, a no-doubter over the fence in left, after she worked the count full. The knock cut the St. Cloud State lead in half, 2-1.

MSU catcher Ella Schulz made solid contact and drove it to left for a single with one out following the homer. Patnode put barrel to ball and drove a double to right center, which scored Schulz all the way from first to tie the game, 2-2. The left fielder advanced to third on the throw home, then Carter hit her home with a dribbler back up the middle to give Minnesota State a 3-2 lead. A couple of ground outs ended the inning, but momentum had swung back in favor of the Mavericks. 

Fitzgerald for SCSU hit a two-out double just past Behrends' glove at third, but a liner to left right at Patnode ended the top of the third. Hycnar hit the second pitch she saw in the bottom of the inning over the head of the Husky third baseman for her second hit of the game. Helin hit a sharp ball off the shortstop to reach base and move Hycnar to third. Helin was caught attempting to steal second, but the pickle allowed the Maverick shortstop to slide through home safely. Minnesota State led 4-2 after three.

Carter made a terrific diving catch in center field to prevent a base hit in the top of the fourth, then Hycnar made a nice play on a grounder up the middle to throw out the Husky batter for out number three in the inning.

Schulz led off with her second single of the ballgame and Ireland Broderick pinch ran for her to lead off the bottom of the fourth. A sacrifice bunt moved Broderick to second, then Carter hit her fifth single of the day. A throw home prevented a run from scoring, but allowed the Maverick centerfielder to move up to second base. A wild pitch scored Broderick and moved Carter to third, but two ground outs to shortstop wrapped up the fourth inning. Minnesota State led 5-2.

Hycnar led off the bottom of the fifth with her third hit in as many at bats in game two, then Helin moved her over a bag with a ground out. A wild pitch let her advance another base before she was caught in a pickle on a fielder's choice between third and home for out number two. Tong singled past the first baseman's glove to score Lara, who made it to second on the fielder's choice, which put the Mavericks up 6-2. 

Brooke Holmes reached base for the first time in nine batters for the Huskies in the top of the sixth, but another incredulous full-extension diving catch from Carter in centerfield retired the side for the Maverick defense. 

Carter reached on her sixth single of the afternoon to remain a perfect 6-6 at the plate, then Kimmes bunted, but nobody was covering first, which allowed the freshman second baseman to reach on an infield hit. Carter stole third, then an errant throw down to the bag allowed the senior speedster to score an insurance run, 7-2.

The Huskies drew a lead off walk in the top of the seventh, and a single up the middle from a pinch hitter put two on with one down. An RBI single put a third run up on the board for SCSU and another base hit loaded the bases and put the tying run at the plate. Grace Frechette hit a single to center to score two more runs to make the score 7-5. 

The game ended on a wild double play; a grounder hit to Hycnar at short was fired home, where Schulz laid the tag on a collision at the plate, then she fired it down the third base line to Behrends, who tagged out another runner at third to secure out number three in the top of the seventh. Minnesota State swept the Huskies with a 7-5 win in game two. 

Del Vecchio pitched seven innings, allowed three earned runs on eight hits. She struck out three batters in her fifth win of the season.

Both Hycnar and Carter had three hits in game two. Carter drove in one run and scored another. Schulz had two hits in her start behind the plate. Tong and Lara each had one hit and drove in one run. Lara scored twice. Patnode also had an RBI double. 

"It ended a little dramatic, but we got it done with consistency" said a smiling head coach Lori Meyer after the sweep. "I thought Stone pitched a really solid game one. Even with runners on, she just kept her composure and got it done. Our defense was stellar, with Hycnar making plays at short and Carter diving for catches in center field, those are the plays we needed to make."

Minnesota State has a few days off before it travels down to Nebraska to take on Wayne State (25-18, 10-9 NSIC) on Friday, April 18 at noon and 2:00 p.m. The Mavericks split with the Wildcats on Senior Day last season.