Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State catcher Molly Bull swings at a pitch during the second game of the Mustang softball team's senior day matchup against Minnesota State at Mustang Field in Marshall. The Mavericks won both games of the doubleheader, 4-3 and 5-4.

MARSHALL — Minnesota State was too much for the Southwest Minnesota State softball team to handle in their regular-season finale on Saturday. The Mavericks edged out a pair of one-run victories, 4-3 and 5-4, to spoil the Mustangs’ senior day and knock SMSU out of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference postseason.

“I thought the kids did a really good job today. They fought,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “We gave ourselves opportunities in both games to win the game at the end and you’ve just got to give Mankato credit. They made plays and got outs when they needed to.”

The Mustangs’ 10-18 conference record put them 11th in the conference, one spot out of the tournament. Northern State entered the weekend three games back of the Mustangs and in possession of the tiebreaker. They swept their doubleheader against Bemidji State on Saturday and Minnesota Crookston on Sunday to leapfrog SMSU for the final spot.

The pair of losses marked the final game for SMSU seniors Jillian Noel, Molly Bull, Makenna Waldow and Paige Ahrendt.

“I just told myself to come out and enjoy the day,” Bull said. “College softball only lasts for so long, so the memories with these girls are all that matters. Outcomes are outcomes, all that’s going to matter is the relationships I’ve built at the end of the day and this team is a second family.”

Noel became SMSU’s all-time leader in games started in the second game of the doubleheader with 215 while Bull’s 195 games played as a Mustang ranks her 11th all-time. Bull is also ends her career with the sixth-most putouts by a Mustangs with 717 while Noel’s 215 puts her third on the all-time list, just 10 back of Bailey Johnson’s record of 225, set in 2022.

The Mustangs strung together some clutch hits in the bottom of the sixth inning of game 1 to tie up the game. Minnesota State retired each of the first two Mustang batters when Brynn Webber doubled back to the center field wall. Minnesota State made a change in the circle with Nickerson relieving Del Vecchio, but the Mustangs continued to rally with Grace Anderson drawing a walk. Kramolisch then drilled a single up the middle to drive Webber and tie the game at 3-3.

Yet, the game didn’t remain tied for long. Rhyan Fritz drew a leadoff walk for the Mavericks to start the top of the seventh and she advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A flyout put two down but Carter singled up the middle for a single. Webber made a strong throw from the outfield to home plate but Fritz beat the ball for the go-ahead run.

With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the seventh, Russell hit a leadoff single and Noel drew a walk to put the go-ahead run on first. A fielder’s choice and a pop-out kept runners on first and second when Boxrud drew a walk to load the bases, but a fly out to left field ended the game with a Mavericks win.

Morgyn Otte put together a terrific pitching performance despite the loss for the Mustangs. While she has typically only pitched the first five or six innings this season, she pitched her first seven-inning game since March 30 and threw 107 pitches, her third-highest mark of the season. She held a solid Mavericks team to seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters. The loss drops her record to 8-13 on the year.

The Mavericks rotated through four pitchers in the game. McKayla Armbruster pitched the first two innings, allowing one earned run and one unearned on four hits, while Sophia Del Vecchio allowed one run on five hits over the next 3 2/3 innings. Kacy Nickerson earned the win after relieving Del Vecchio with two outs in the sixth, getting one out while allowing a hit and a walk, while Brianne Stone picked up the save after pitching a scoreless seventh inning with one hit and two walks.

In the top of the third, Minnesota State rallied to pull ahead. Marina Carter and Ellie Tallman each singled to start the inning and Kessler followed up with a two-run triple, making the score 3-2 with no outs.

Still, SMSU was able to limit the damage. Mustang catcher Bull fielded a popout to put one away and Abby Boxrud fielded a popout on the next play. Kessler ran home without tagging up and Boxrud relayed the ball to Paris Van Dyke at first, who then threw it to Noel at third, beating Kessler back to the bag for the rare 9-3-5 double play.

SMSU captured its first lead of the game in the second inning. Abby Boxrud hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on a Brynn Webber sacrifice bunt and scored on a Riley Kramolisch RBI single, putting the Mustangs up 2-1.

Minnesota State crossed the game’s first run across the plate in the top of the first when Courtney Kessler doubled and Kylie Sullivan followed up with an RBI double. Otte got out of the inning without any further damage by striking out the next batter and inducing a groundout in the following at-bat.

In the bottom of the frame, SMSU matched the Mavericks’ production with a run of their own. Kramolisch reached base in the leadoff at-bat on a Maverick error at second base. She advanced to second and then third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout before Noel singled to right field to drive in the tying run.

Brynn Webber singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth and stole second with two outs to get in scoring position. She advanced to third when Kramolisch beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners but tried to stretch over to home plate for the tying run. Yet, the throw was well ahead of her and she was tagged out at the plate to end the inning.

Game 2

MSU 5, SMSU 4

The Mavericks scored the go-ahead win of their game 2 victory in the top of the third inning. Sullivan safely reached second base after Webber couldn’t quite hold on to a hard-hit ball to center field. Izzy Hycnar doubled in the next at-bat to score Sullivan and give Minnesota State a 4-3 advantage.

Minnesota State plated three runs in the top of the first to capture an early advantage. Tallman and Kessler each singled to start the frame and Tallman stole third to put runners on the corners with no outs. Sullivan capitalized with an RBI single in the next at-bat and, after a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, Hycnar hit a two-run single up the middle, making it 3-0 with no outs. Still, SMSU pitcher Karlie Miller got a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to end the inning without further damage.

In the bottom of the same inning, the Mustangs tacked on a pair of runs of their own. Waldow started the rally with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. She didn’t stay on second for long as Abby Russell crushed a pitch over the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 3-2. Noel followed Russell up with a double but a flyout and a groundout kept the Mavericks on top at the end of the frame.

Bull played a terrific defensive game at catcher for the Mustangs, catching the only steal attempt of the day and picking off another runner on first with a quick heads-up throw.

“I just trust that the girls are going to be there,” Bull said. “I know that I’ve just got to do my part, I’ve got to get the throw there, and I can trust that they’re going to be there to catch it and put the tag on.”

Chloe Brandt pitched the first 1/3 inning for the Mavericks, getting relieved by Maddie Oetzmann after allowing two runs on three hits. Oetzmann went on to pick up the win, improving to 17-3 after pitching five innings and allowing two runs on five hits and a pair of walks.

Miller retired the top of the second in order and SMSU tied the game back up at 3-3 in the bottom of the frame. Boxrud and Paris Van Dyke each drew a walk to put two runners on with one out and Kramolisch drilled a single up the middle to score Boxrud.

Karlie Miller fell to 11-7 on the season after going the distance for the Mustangs. She allowed four earned runs on 10 hits and five walks in the game. She also struck out three batters.

Ella Shulz hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to give the Mavericks an extra insurance run. The four-bagger would have been a two-run shot but Bull picked off Izzy Hycnar at first base prior to Shulz’s homer to keep the bases empty.

The insurance run proved to be necessary after SMSU came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the sixth. Abby Boxrud to start the inning, advanced on a Webber sacrifice bunt and scored on a Paris Van Dyke single. The Mavericks then made a pitching change, putting in Armbruster for Oetzmann, to get out of the inning with their lead still intact.

Armbruster picked up her fourth save of the season after retiring each of the five Mustangs she faced to close out the Minnesota State victory.

The Mustangs 10-18 conference record falls just shy of their 12-18 mark the previous season, which also put them 11th in the NSIC. Still, they finished the year with two more overall wins than they had the previous season and were particularly strong at home and at neutral sites, where they put together a 5-5 and 12-12 record respectively. With much of this year’s group maintaining future eligibility, the future is bright for the Mustangs if they can improve on their 2-15 road record.

“I’m just really proud of this group. I think they grinded through a lot this year and I’m really proud of our seniors,” Bouman said. “Our four seniors, they’ve had incredible careers and they’ve been incredible assets to our program. And I’m just proud of our team as a whole.”