Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University outfielder Abby Boxrud leaps up to make a catch during the first game of a doubleheader against No. 10 Augustana on Wednesday at Mustang Field in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep pace with No. 10 Augustana in Wednesday’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader. The Vikings jumped out to early leads in each of the day’s two games, claiming a 4-0 win in the opener and an 8-3 victory in the rematch.

“Got to give a ton of credit to Augie, they’re number 10 for a reason,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “They pitch well, play defense well and they score runs when they need to. I thought we did a really good job of competing, I thought we kept them off balance at times when we needed to, but I think we competed at the plate and it was overall an effort I’m proud of.”

The pair of games at Mustang Field marked SMSU’s first official home games of the season. The Mustangs’ pair of doubleheaders against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State last week were both played at Mattke Field in Marshall but were on the record as road matchups because they were relocated due to weather.

SMSU falls to 20-12 (2-4 NSIC) on the season with the pair of losses and will look to rebound when it hosts UMary (9-22, 2-4 NSIC) and Minot State (17-12, 5-1 NSIC) for doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. The Mustangs’ games against the Marauders are slated for 1 p.m. on Friday, while Saturday’s games against Minot State are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

“I think any time you can play at home, it’s a great opportunity. I think the fact that we’re getting to play outside in March is an even better opportunity,” Bouman said. “We’re just going to get back to work, practice tomorrow and be ready to rock and roll on Friday in, hopefully, some beautiful weather.”

The games were originally scheduled to be played on Saturday and Sunday, but were moved up a day due to forecasted weather. 

GAME 1

No. 10 Augustana 4, SMSU 0

The Vikings first took the lead on a solo home run from Emma Cooper in the second and padded that advantage with a three-run third inning. 

Liz Dierks and Andrea Cain started the third with back-to-back singles before Desi Cuevas drove the pair in with another. From there, Lexi Ingalls couldn’t handle a hot ground ball at second base from Ashton Dorman, allowing in one run, and Dorman went on to score an unearned run on a passed ball with two outs to make the score 4-0. 

Karli Miller pitched the full seven innings for the Mustangs, holding Augustana scoreless for five of them. The senior pitcher surrendered three earned runs on seven hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts, falling to 8-5 on the year with the result.

Abby Russell made a pair of big plays at shortstop to end the top of the sixth. She recovered one tipped ground ball before flipping it to Emma Humpal at third to tag out Cooper for the inning’s second out. For the third, Miller tipped a line drive from Sydney Herbert with her glove but Russell adjusted to make the inning-ending catch.

Russell, Riley Kramolisch and Abby Boxrud singled for SMSU’s lone hits of the game. Cuevas led the way for Augustana with three singles while Cooper had the lone extra-base hit of the game.

Grace Glanzer also went the distance in the circle for Augustana, striking out six Mustangs with no walks in the complete-game shutout. The result improves her record to 11-4 on the season.

No. 10 Augustana 8, SMSU 3

SMSU scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. Boxrud singled, Russell reached on a throwing error by Augustana pitcher Lexi Lander and Emma Humpal battled her way to a seven-pitch walk to load up the bases with one out. A strikeout to Paris Van Dyke put two away, but Brynn Webber earned another walk on a 3-2 count to force in Boxrud. 

Grace Anderson followed up Webber’s RBI walk with a hard-hit ball, but Cooper caught the line drive at first to end the inning. 

Still, the Mustang lead was short-lived. With two outs in the second, Stella Harber and Bri Lee hit consecutive singles before Herbert tied the game with another single down the right-field line. Dierks then hit a grounder to short and Russell couldn’t make the play; the ball bounced into the outfield and Herbert and Lee scored to bring Augustana’s advantage to 3-1. 

Morgyn Otte fell to 6-5 on the season after pitching the first 5 1/3 frames for the Mustangs. She surrendered four earned and four unearned runs on 10 hits in the start, also striking out a pair of Vikings. 

Lander improved to 11-2 with the win, allowing two earned runs on five hits with a trio of walks over five innings. In relief, Haley Grimmius tossed two scoreless innings.

Errors continued to plague the Mustangs into the third inning. Cuevas led off the inning with a single and Lander reached on a fielding error by Van Dyke at first. Dorman bunted the two runners over with a sacrifice bunt for the first out, and Cooper drove them home with a single up the middle for a 5-1 Viking lead.

Humpal made a throwing error to allow Cooper to advance into scoring position in the next at-bat, but Van Dyke ran into foul territory to catch a foul ball from Lee and then caught Harber taking too many steps off first and made the tag in the rundown for a solo double play.

With two outs in the fourth, Cain doubled and then scored when Lander reached on a throwing error by Russell at short.

SMSU started to find its offensive rhythm in the sixth inning when Boxrud walked and Russell singled with two outs. Humpal then got the Mustangs on the scoreboard with an RBI single and Van Dyke kept the rally going with another to make the score 6-3 before the inning ended on a Webber ground out to second. 

Six different Mustangs had a hit in the game, though none had multiple. Boxrud and Humpal each had a single and a walk. 

“I think [the number of Mustangs to reach base] is a testament to them. They’ve put in the work,” Bouman said. “They were out there looking for their pitch. They were selective, they were aggressive when they needed to be, and I was very proud of our effort. I thought we were disciplined but aggressive.”

Lee logged a game-high three hits for Augustana while Cooper, Herbert and Cain each added another pair. Cooper and Cain each also had a double while Cooper drove in a pair of runs. 

Jordyn Marsh tossed 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings for SMSU, allowing two hits with a strikeout.