Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State infielder Abby Russell reacts as she runs to home plate for the go-ahead run during a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State in Marshall on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs also defeated the Huskies 7-0 in the day's second game to sweep their first home games of the season.

MARSHALL — On a windy Saturday afternoon in Marshall with winds hitting upwards of 35 miles per hour, the Southwest Minnesota State softball team blew away the St. Cloud State Huskies in its home opener. The Mustangs strung together a third-inning rally to pull out a 2-1 win in the first game of the day before pulling out seven first-inning runs in what would go on to be an 8-0 victory in six innings in the second game.

“We’re just thankful to be playing. When we got out here, we told the girls that it could be a lot worse,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “It could be could, it could be overcast, but it’s beautiful and warm. And both teams have to play with the wind, so we’re just out here grinding and doing our best with the conditions we’ve been given.

“We’ve played in situations like this before but I thought the girls did a really good job of focusing in and making sure that every ball they saw, they caught and that every ball we hit, we wanted to run out.”

Saturday’s sweep marked a bounce-back performance for the Mustangs, who had dropped each of their previous four games to Augustana and Minnesota Duluth. Their seven runs in the second game on Saturday tied their total over the four prior games.

In the first game of the day, Jillian Noel became the sixth Mustang to reach 200 career hits when she hit an RBI single in the third inning to drive in Abby Russell for the go-ahead run. Russell reached base in the prior at-bat with a triple that scored Riley Kramolisch to tie the game at 1-1.

“I went up to bat and I said, ‘This is a great opportunity.’ Abby Russell just drilled that triple and I looked at her and I said, ‘I’m going to bring you in home,'” Noel said. “She truly did exactly what was needed, I guess I did too. It’s just a great day to play ball. They’re going through the same conditions that we’re going through and we’re used to it being here in Marshall.”

Noel said that she had no idea that she was approaching the milestone and that even once it was announced over the public address system, she couldn’t hear it over the wind. She said she found out when a group of her teammates excitedly came up and told her, adding that it was really meaningful to hit that mark.

“She’s been here for five years and she’s been consistent for us for five years,” Bouman said of Noel. “We’re really happy for her and she just did what Jillian does. She comes up when we need her to.”

St. Cloud scored the game’s first run when Reese Holzheuter hit a single up the middle in the game’s first at-bat. After Holzheuter second and advancing to third on a fielder’s choice, Bethany Weiss hit a single to center field to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

After allowing a first-inning run, Morgyn Otte settled down limit the St. Cloud State offense for the remainder of the game. The junior pitcher five, holding St. Cloud to one run on five hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts. The win brought her record to 7-9 on the season.

“I thought Otte and Karlie [Miller] both did a good job of hitting their spots, keeping the ball down, and I thought our defense did a really good job,” Bouman said. “They made some really tough plays to help our pitchers out.”

For the Huskies, Erin Eickhoff fell to 8-8 with the loss. She allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk over five innings. She struck out one batter.

The Huskies started the fourth inning strong with a single from Fitzgerald. Looking to tie the game back up after the Mustangs’ third-inning rally, St. Cloud State elected to put Kori Needham on first as a pinch runner.

Yet, Otte induced a ground out, fielded the ball and threw it to Emma Humpal at second base for the first out, and Humpal threw the ball to Paris Van Dyke at first to complete the double play.

Karlie Miller relieved Otte to start the sixth inning. She retired each of the six batters she faced, striking out two of them. The save was Miller’s second of the season.

Justyce Porter pitched one inning of relief for the Huskies, holding the Mustangs without a baserunner while striking out two of the three batters she faced.

Game 2

SMSU 8, SCSU 0

While the day’s first game was a pitchers dual, the second game was anything but. The Mustangs scored seven first-inning runs to gain some early momentum and never looked back in the 8-0 victory.

Kramolisch and Mikayla Berge singled to start the first for the Mustangs and, after the Huskies got a strikeout, Noel hit another single to load the bases.

Emma Humpal started the Mustang rally with a two-run double and Molly Bull drove in another two with a single up the middle to make the score 4-0.

With just one out, the Huskies made their first pitching change when Porter relieved Mckenna Stallings. Still, the Mustangs persisted.

Miller hit a single to put runners on the corners and then stole second to get in scoring position. Brynn Webber followed up Miller’s hit with an RBI single and Van Dyke drove in Miller with a failed fielder’s choice, keeping two runners on with one out.

After Van Dyke stole second, Kramolisch hit her second single of the inning to make it a 7-0 game.

“I thought defensively in that first inning, we got out of a jam with a big double play and kind of gave ourselves some momentum to go into our offense,” Bouman said. “I thought Kram [Riley Kramolisch] in the leadoff spot did a good job of getting the table going and Mikayla Berge did the same thing. They both had singles and that kind of gives your offense some confidence… We put the ball in play hard, forced St. Cloud to make some mistakes and then kind of capitalized on those mistakes.”

The Huskies finally ended the inning after getting Van Dyke out at the plate on a fielder’s choice and forcing Russell into a groundout.

After earning the save in the first game of the day, Miller recorded the win in the second to improve to 8-11 on the season. She pitched six shutout innings in the second game, allowing just three hits and a walk. She also struck out seven batters, bringing her to a total of 9 on the day.

“She had a really cgood presence on the mound and she was really confident in our stuff and our game plan,” Bouman said, adding that she felt Miller was effective in controlling the pace of the game and the commanding the strike zone.

Heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, SMSU needed just one run to end the game. St. Cloud State got Van Dyke and Kramolisch out on grounders to start the frame but Grace Anderson, pinch hitting for Paige Ahrendt, reached on an error.

Berge came in as a pinch runner and Abby Russell closed the game out with an RBI double to right-center field to secure the 8-0 victory via run rule.

Humpal’s double to score the first run of the game and Russell’s game-clinching double were the only extra-base its of the game. Humpal and Fitzgerald led the doubleheader with three hits each for their respective teams.

Russell’s three RBIs also tied Humpal and Bull for a team-high.

After coming in for Stallings, Porter pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and a walk. She struck out two batters.

Southwest Minnesota State passes St. Cloud State for ninth in the NSIC standings with the win, now sitting at 15-22 overall and 6-8 in conference. St. Cloud State drops to 10th at 5-7 (22-16 overall).

SMSU will remain at Mustang Field for its next doubleheader, hosting Wayne State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats are 12th in the NSIC at 6-28 overall and 2-8 in conference after splitting its home doubleheader against Northern State on Saturday.