Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State pitcher Karlie Miller (left) and right fielder Abby Boxrud react after a Mustang hit during a softball doubleheader against Wayne State in Marshall on Wednesday. The Mustangs beat the Wildcats 6-1 and 3-2.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State softball team broke a pair of fifth-inning ties in its doubleheader against Wayne State College with some clutch hitting to pull out a doubleheader sweep on Wednesday. The Mustangs defeated the Wildcats 6-1 in the first game and held on for a 3-2 win in the second.

Wednesday’s sweep marks four consecutive wins for the Mustangs after they swept St. Cloud State on Saturday. The wins put the Mustangs back at .500 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference at 8-8, good for seventh place in the conference standings.

The day’s first game was tied at one run apiece heading into the fifth inning when the Mustangs surged ahead. A single from Riley Kramolisch and a walk from Abby Russell put a pair of runners on with two outs.

Jillian Noel drove in Kramolisch for the go-ahead run with a hard-hit single to center field and, after an eight-pitch battle, Emma Humpal singled to drive in Russell for a 3-1 SMSU lead. 

Molly Bull kept the two-out rally going with an RBI single to drive in Noel but Humpal was caught advancing to third, ending the frame with a 4-1 Mustang advantage.

“I think our offense just did a good job of staying disciplined and looking for their pitch,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “They capitalized on some pitches and I thought they just did a good job of being prepared for what was up and took good hacks at it.”

Morgyn Otte earned the win in the circle for the Mustangs, improving to 8-9 on the season after allowing just one run over five innings. She struck out five of the 19 batters she faced while allowing just two hits and two walks.

The Mustangs first took the lead when Abby Boxrud singled in the bottom of the second inning and was driven home on a single by Paris Van Dyke. 

The Wildcats responded just a half inning later, however, when Dylan Sweeney hit a leadoff double and scored on a Jordyn Klein single in the next at-bat. Otte limited the damage to one run by striking out the next batter and forcing groundouts out of the next two. 

The only other jam Otte got into was in the second inning when she walked each of the inning’s first two batters. Still, she locked in to end the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to shallow center.

“Honestly, just to pound the strike zone,” Otte said of her thought process after walking the first two batters. “I trust my stuff and I know the coaches trust my stuff, so just going out there after two walks knowing that my defense is going to have my back.”

Sami Felt started the game pitching for Wayne State. She allowed one run on four hits over four innings of work but left the game with a no-decision.

SMSU worked Lucka for five runs over two innings on the mound. She surrendered seven hits and a walk in the game to fall to 4-6 on the season.

After pulling ahead in the fifth inning, the Mustangs pulled away in the sixth. Boxrud and Brynn Webber singled to start the inning and Makenna Waldow — in as a pinch-hitter for Van Dyke — advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. 

Kramolisch cleared the bases in the next at-bat with a single to center, giving the Mustangs a 6-1 lead.

Karlie Miller pitched the last two innings for SMSU. She surrendered a single to the first batter she faced but she retired each of the next six to close out the game and pick up her third save of the season.

“Otte and Karlie did a really great job of hitting their spots, getting ahead and I think they just did a really good job of keeping the ball in the park,” Bouman said. 

Game 2

SMSU 3, WSC 2

Paris Van Dyke singled to start the fifth inning and advanced to second on a Kramolisch groundout. After a flyout put two away, Russell drilled a single to center field to score Van Dyke. Russell was tagged out trying to advance to second on the throw home but still, the Mustangs led 3-2. 

With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats needed a rally. Klein singled with one out to put the tying run on base and Jordyn Rochholz reached on a throwing error to put the go-ahead on first. Still, Miller came away with a strikeout before inducing the game-ending groundout.

“Any win is great, and then when it’s a tight game like that where they’ve got runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh, I think we did a really good job of getting tough and keeping the ball in,” Bouman said. She acknowledged that the Mustangs made some mistakes at tough times with runners on base but said she was happy that they accomplished the main goal of getting the win.

Miller threw a complete-game victory in the second game. It marks the second consecutive doubleheader in which Miller registered a save in the first game and a complete-game win in the second. 

Miller allowed two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over seven innings to improve to 9-11 on the season. She also struck out six batters in the game to finish the day with a total of seven. She attributed her recent success to consistently pounding the strike zone and trusting herself and her defense.

After throwing 24 pitches in her relief outing earlier in the day, Miller threw 113 pitches in her start to finish with a total of 137 pitches.

“I think the adrenaline kicks in and I’m like, ‘No, I can do this,'” Miller said of her stamina in the circle. “We’ve been practicing a lot lately just different scenarios where I’m pitching longer so that this is easier for me when it comes to games.

Noel then stole third on a wild pitch but a deep flyout ended the inning with the game still tied. 

The Mustangs had a scoring opportunity in the third inning when Kramolisch reached base by beating out a ground ball. She advanced to second on a Berge ground out and tried to score on a Russell single up the middle. Yet, Wayne State center fielder Lauren Laudick gunned a throw to home plate and Kramolisch was tagged out.

Still, the Mustangs didn’t leave the bottom of the third empty-handed. Noel smashed a double to deep left-center to score Russell and give SMSU a 2-1 lead. 

The hit marked the third time in the Mustangs’ last four games that Noel has driven in a go-ahead RBI. She drove in the run that put the Mustangs ahead for good in the first game against Wayne State on Wednesday and also drove in Russell for the game-winning RBI in a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State on Saturday. Noel finished Wednesday’s doubleheader with a game-high four hits and two doubles while Russell and Kramolisch each had another two hits.

In the top of the fourth, Wayne tied the game up when Hayley Murphy hit a single up the middle and Sweeney doubled in the run to knot the game up at 2-2.

After being shut out for the final four frames of the first game, the Wildcats ended the drought in the first inning of the second. Klein led off the inning with a single and was replaced at first when Rochholz reached on a fielder’s choice. Rochholz stole second and then advanced to third on a shallow foul out next to the Wayne State dugout. With two outs, Mary Krystofiak then singled to right field to drive in Rochholz for the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the frame, Wayne State retired each of the first two Mustang batters on groundouts. Russell shifted the trend after reaching on a fielding error and Noel took further advantage of the miscue by smashing a double to deep left-center field to tie the game at 1-1. 

SMSU, now 17-22 overall on the season, will go out on the road for its next set of games. The Mustangs will take on Northern State (18-18, 4-12 NSIC) for a doubleheader in Aberdeen, S.D. starting at 1 p.m. From there, the Mustangs will return to Minnesota for a doubleheader against eighth-place Minnesota State Moorhead (20-16, 7-7 NSIC) beginning at noon. 

“The NSIC is so good, top to bottom, so every game is a battle,” Bouman said. “I think we’ve just got to prepare, rest up and then prepare for the weekend and prepare for some more battles.”