Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Shelby Bloemendaal fires a pitch during their game against Winona State University on Sunday. SMSU fell to WSU 5-1 in Game 1 and 2-1 in Game 2.

MARSHALL — The sun peeked its way through the clouds as members of the Southwest Minnesota State University softball team ran onto Mustang Field. With a raucous crowd behind them, SMSU got to hold home games over the weekend for the first time in nearly two years, hosting Upper Iowa University and Winona State University.

SMSU senior Bailey Johnson said it felt great to be able to play in front of their fans on their home field again.

“It’s a pretty good feeling. It’s been almost two years, and especially because my freshman year we didn’t have any home games on this field, so it’s a pretty good feeling to not have to start on the football field,” Johnson said. “It was also great to have all of our fans here.”

Mustangs coach Bailey Bouman added they were grateful for those who helped keep the field in good shape after the rain that postponed their games on Wednesday.

“With all of the weather we had this week, we’re really thankful we have good maintenance to keep our field in good conditions for a home game,” Bouman said. “It’s exciting, it feels like been forever since we’ve been home let alone on this field.”

The Mustangs swept UIU on Saturday with a 4-3 comeback victory in the opener before taking Game 2, 3-0. On Sunday, SMSU fell to WSU in both games, dropping Game 1 5-1 before falling in the second game 2-1.

Bouman said they were proud of the way their team continued to battle against a challenging WSU team and they just weren’t able to execute.

“We’re really proud of the kids, they competed really hard,” Bouman said. “Winona’s good, they’re nationally-ranked for a reason, so our kids did a great job of competing, we just didn’t execute when we needed to which just happens from time to time but our kids did a good job.”

After defeating UIU in a sweep, the Mustangs squared off against the Warriors, who entered as the No. 11-ranked team in the nation. The opener saw both teams trade multiple scoreless innings, as only WSU was able to record a hit in each frame, but couldn’t capitalize. The Warriors then struck first with a solo homer in the top half of the fourth, but SMSU answered right back when Emma Grote reached on an infield single before advancing to third on a pair of sacrifices and ultimately scoring on an RBI single from Lileya Kebos to tie things up at 1-1 after four.

WSU kept its offense going in the next half-inning, using a single and an RBI double to plate a run. After SMSU couldn’t produce a run in its next two trips to the plate, the Warriors led off the seventh with a walk before a single and a two-run triple pushed their advantage to 4-1. WSU then plated another run on a pick-off attempt, bringing it to the 5-1 final.

Kebos led SMSU with a hit and an RBI while Grote and Tomlinson recorded the other two hits.

Megan Cull took the loss in the circle, going seven innings while allowing two runs on seven hits and struck out five. Allison Christians gave up three runs on two hits in relief.

The second matchup saw the Mustangs get out to a better start offensively, with Johnson connecting on a leadoff single before Kali Tomlinson smacked a double and Jillian Noel got hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. After a popout, Shelby Bloemendaal drew a walk to plate a run and give SMSU a 1-0 lead.

The one-run advantage would hold until the middle frames, when WSU led off the fourth with a solo home run to tie it at 1-1. SMSU would get two quick outs, but the Warriors weren’t done yet on offense, connecting on another solo shot to take a 2-1 lead. The Mustangs would only get two baserunners aboard the rest of the game, as WSU picked up the doubleheader sweep.

Johnson, Grote, Tomlinson, Kebos and Patia Wolfe all led SMSU with a hit apiece while Bloemendaal recorded the lone RBI.

Bouman said offensively, they did a good job of making the right adjustments between games.

“I think they did a good job at the end of Game 1 trying to make adjustments and then carrying that into Game 2 and that’s just on the hitters kind of realizing who they are and what their strengths are. They did a good job of adjusting from things that maybe beat them in the first game that they weren’t going to let beat them in the second one.”

Bloemendaal took the loss in the circle, going all seven innings while allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six.

Saturday

SMSU 4, UIU 3 (Game 1)

SMSU 3, UIU 0 (Game 2)

The Mustangs began its home weekend with a doubleheader against Upper Iowa. In the opener, Upper Iowa jumped out to an early lead on a three-run home run in the top of the second inning. UIU would hold that advantage over the next few innings, as starter Abby McKay held SMSU in check on offense.

Then in the bottom of the fifth, SMSU began a two-out rally as Bailey Johnson connected on a double before coming around to score when Emma Grote reached on an error. One batter later, Kali Tomlinson smacked a two-run homer, her team-leading eighth of the season, to left-center and tied things up at 3-3.

The next half-inning saw Upper Iowa load the bases with two outs, but the Mustangs and relief pitcher Allison Christians were able to escape the jam on a groundout. After trading scoreless innings, SMSU had a chance to break the tie in the bottom half of the seventh. Patia Wolfe got a good start to the Mustangs’ at-bat with a single before Johnson recorded another double to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Grote then hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in the game-winning run.

Johnson’s double in the seventh was also a record-setting extra-base hit, as she became the program’s all-time leader in doubles at 43, passing Amanda Burkhart’s (2006-09) previous record of 42.

Johnson said it was great to be able to achieve the milestone, but added it was a huge momentum boost during their final-inning rally.

“It’s a pretty good feeling. I’ve definitely worked hard to get to where I’m at, but it was nice because it was definitely a momentum-changer for us to be able to score that run and come back,” Johnson said.

Grote led SMSU with a 3 for 3 day at the plate and an RBI while Johnson added two hits and Tomlinson had a hit and two RBI.

Christians earned the win in relief, tossing two scoreless innings while only allowing one hit and striking out two. Megan Cull threw five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out one.

After earning the come-from-behind victory, the second game saw SMSU and Upper Iowa trade scoreless innings the first two frames before the Mustangs got on the board first in the third with a Johnson double and a Grote RBI infield single.

SMSU sent Upper Iowa down in order before adding to its advantage in its next trip to the plate. Madysson Schliinz made it 2-0 with an RBI single before Schliinz and Lileya Kebos combined for a double steal to plate another run. UIU had chances to get on the board in the sixth and seventh innings with a pair of baserunners on, but SMSU starter Shelby Bloemendaal escaped the jam both times to seal the victory.

Blomendaal earned her first career shutout in the process, allowing six hits while also striking out four.

Bouman said all of their pitchers did a good job of keeping things simple and executing what they wanted to accomplish in the circle.

“They just did a good job,” Bouman said. “We talked earlier this week about a few things they wanted to work on and some goals for this week and keeping things simple and going back to basics. I thought they did a good job of being simple, letting their defense work and doing their thing.”

Offensively, SMSU was led by Kebos with two hits and a run while Johnson, Jillian Noel, Grote, Schliinz and Tomlinson all recording a hit.

Up next

SMSU (16-8, 7-3 NSIC) will hit the road this week, taking on No. 1-ranked Augustana University on Tuesday in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. before facing MSU Moorhead and Northern State next weekend. Bouman said they were able to improve with each game this weekend and they’ll look to keep their momentum going into the rest of the week.

“We competed, that’s all we can ask for is that we compete and get better from game to game and we got better as the day went on [Sunday], so that’s something we’re excited about and taking into next week,” Bouman said.