Anderson stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the third and came up to bat aggressive. She swung at the first pitch she faced and crushed it to center field, sailing a shot over the wall for what proved to be the game-winning home run.

“I mean, this is what you dream of in the postseason,” Anderson said of the hit. “You want to do this for your team, and I did so I’m really happy with it.”

The homer was Anderson’s second postseason home run in as many games. She also hit a go-ahead solo homer in the second inning of SMSU’s play-in round game against Wayne State last year, though the Mustangs were eventually walked off by the Wildcats 4-3.

Marsh’s pitching was sensational all season long, but her performance for the Mustangs in the postseason opener was perhaps her most special outing yet. The junior struck out 10 batters with no walks on just 79 pitches over seven innings. She finished the game one hit and an error away from a perfect game, allowing just a bunt single in the third.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University's Grace Anderson (center) touches home plate after her go-ahead home run in Wednesday's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament game against Sioux Falls, Wednesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“I think just talking to coach and knowing what I was throwing, like we had a game plan,” Marsh said. “I just think that it was efficient, and they swung at the pitches that we were throwing.”

Sioux Falls brought Andie Suhai to the plate as a pinch hitter with two outs in the seventh, but Marsh made sure to send the Mustang faithful home with a win. After starting off the at-bat with a ball, Marsh threw three consecutive strikes to close out the win with a punch-out.

Marsh also started the Mustangs’ playoff game last season, pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief while getting charged with the loss after giving up a pair of runs, but she came back stronger this time.

“I think just the pressure, not really the pressure but the nerves and jitters of everything, I just came in with confidence,” Marsh said of what the prior experience did for her. “Knowing that my team had my back and we could get through this.”

Wednesday’s win was the first for any of the Mustangs on the roster. Their last postseason also came against Sioux Falls, 3-2, in 2022. As such, SMSU peaked at the right time for its lone senior, Riley Kramolisch.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University pitcher Jordyn Marsh spikes down her facemask after striking out the final batter in the Mustangs' win over Sioux Falls in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball tournament, Wednesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“It feels really awesome. It was really awesome last weekend when we got to 30-plus wins, and that’s the first time we’ve done that since 2009,” Kramolisch said. “I think the great things that our pitchers have done this year, there have been a lot of great things. I think that’s going to keep us with good momentum leading into the rest of the postseason, and I think we can make a really good run here.”

Morgan Linstad nearly put the tying run on base for the Cougars in the fifth inning when she lined a ball into deep center field. Yet, SMSU’s Kaylee Hafermann got a good jump on the ball and made a play, leaping into the air to make a back-shoulder catch to turn what likely would have been a double into an out.

“I can only give it to my team, my team worked really hard today and we had incredible catches,” Anderson said of her teammates’ efforts. “We had incredible at-bats, Marsh pitched a heck of a game, so it all came together today.”

Maddi Duncan pitched a strong game for Sioux Falls, but her efforts in the circle weren’t enough. She gave up one earned run on six hits over six innings, striking out three batters while walking a pair on 86 pitches.

Kramming numbers into the box score

Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University's Kaylee Hafermann makes a diving catch during Wednesday's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament game against Sioux Falls, Wednesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Kramolisch was the only player on either team with multiple hits in the game, singling twice for the Mustangs. She set the program record for career hits last week against Jamestown and now sits at 229 over her time as a Mustang.

“It felt really awesome [to set the record]. I knew I was getting close to it after that previous weekend at home, and it’s just such an awesome feeling,” Kramolisch said. “I’ve worked hard all these four years. I love to hit, I’d say hitting is my favorite part of the game, so it’s really fun to be at the top now.”

Back with a vengeance

Wednesday’s meeting was the third of the season between SMSU and Sioux Falls. SMSU lost the first matchup 22-1 in five innings after giving up 20 second-inning runs, but they came back with a 2-1 lead later that same day and made it two in a row with Wednesday’s win.

“I think just having short-term memory and playing the game [was the difference from the first game],” Bouman said. “Just trusting our game plans and trusting the philosophy and what we’re going to do, they did a great job today.”

Up next

SMSU now prepares to take on top-seeded Winona State in the conference tournament semifinals on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

at Augustana’s Bowman Field. A win would give the Mustangs their first conference tournament with multiple wins since 2018, when they won three games in the double-elimination era of the tournament. It would also be their first time winning each of their first two postseason games since 2009, when they advanced to the NCAA tournament.

BOX SCORE

SMSU

BATTING

R. Kramolisch: 2-3; P. Van Dyke: 0-2; A. Acker: 0-3, SO; E. Humpal: 0-2, BB; J. Marsh: 0-3; K. Bretschneider: 1-3, 2 SO; G. Anderson: 1-2 (HR), RBI, R; C. Stych: 1-2; K. Hafermann: 0-0.

PITCHING

J. Marsh: W, 7 IP, H, 10 SO.

USF

BATTING

M. Jochimsen: 0-3, 2 SO; E. Kristof: 0-3, SO; K. Knudtson: 0-3, SO; S. Radish: 0-2, SO; A. Suhai: 0-1, SO; O. Huckfelt: 0-2, 2 SO; M. Linstad: 0-2; A. Heule: 0-2, 2 SO; S. Ribich: 0-2; C. Pryor: 1-2.

PITCHING

M. Duncan: L, 6 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.