LAKE WALES, Fla. – The Southwest Minnesota State softball snapped a four-game losing streak with an 8-5 win in game two of a doubleheader at Warner University on Wednesday. Warner won game one by a score of 11-6.

SMSU’s victory in game two snapped Warner’s 10-game winning streak.

SMSU is now 5-8 on the season and will wrap-up its Florida trip on Thursday with a doubleheader at Rollins College in Winter Park starting at 4 p.m. CST.

In the opener, SMSU rallied from an early 5-2 deficit to tie the game in the fifth inning, but the Royals rallied with three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to pull away for the win.

SMSU finished the game with nine hits with Kali Tomlinson finishing 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Abbie Decker and Emma Grote both had two hits, two runs scored and one RBI.

Tomlinson gave SMSU a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo home run, but WU answered with two runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead. The game was tied in the third as Decker belted a solo home run, but again WU had a response, this time scoring three runs on just one hit and three SMSU errors to build a 5-2 advantage.

SMSU tied the game in the fifth as Grote pushed across the first run with an RBI bunt single. Tomlinson would make the score 5-4 with an RBI single, before a throwing error by the Royals allowed another run to score and tie the game at 5-5.

Warner then put together the decisive fifth and sixth innings to put the game away.

SMSU committed five errors in the game which led to six unearned runs for WU.

Megan Cull (0-3) took the loss in relief tossing 3 1/3 innings and allowing seven hits, six runs (three earned) with a pair of strikeouts.

In game two, SMSU jumped on the board quickly in the top of the first behind an RBI single from Tomlinson and a two-run double by Mackenzie Clouse.

Warner scored two runs in the second and another in the third to tie the game at 3-3.

The remained tied until the fifth when the Mustangs pushed across the eventual game-winning runs. SMSU took advantage of two WU errors to plate four runs on just two hits. Grote delivered the big hit of the inning, a two-run double to push the lead to 7-3.

SMSU held a 7-5 lead into the sixth before adding an insurance run on a Krog single to score Bailey Johnson, who led off the frame with a triple.

The run support was plenty for SMSU starting pitcher Athena Golling (2-2) who scattered nine hits in a complete game effort, allowing five runs with four walks and four strikeouts.

Decker finished game two 3 for 5 with a run scored, while Grote, Tomlinson and Clouse each collected two hits.

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