Photo by Samantha Davis. Southwest Minnesota State shortstop Abby Russell fields a ground ball during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday at Mustang Field in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team split a doubleheader with Condordia-St. Paul Saturday afternoon in its final homestand of the season. It also marked the final time the team’s four seniors played on Mustang Field — Abby Russell, Karlie Miller, Abby Boxrud and Morgyn Otte.

“It’s been amazing. It can be a roller coaster, sometimes there’s ups and sometimes there’s downs, but I wouldn’t do it with any other team or any other coaches,” Boxrud said. “It’s been an amazing experience, and I hope everybody on the team has as good of an experience as I did.”

“They [the seniors] are the standard, when you think of our program. They have done everything we’ve asked, they show up every day and they put the work in,” SMSU softball head coach Bailey Bouman added. “They’re going to be extremely missed, but we’re just so appreciative and so thankful for that they chose to be Mustangs, and that they’ve really put everything they have into the four years.”

SMSU took the first game 5-3 behind four early runs in the first two innings, before dropping the second game 7-3 with defensive struggles.

Miller finished up her home career with a win on the mound in the first game, moving to 13-10 on the season. She pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs, seven hits, one walk with two strikeouts.

Jordyn Marsh relieved Miller for the final inning, marking her 10th save of the season with no hits or runs, one walk and one strikeout.

“I think our pitching staff has done a good job. They’re [pitchers] keeping us in games. They’re throwing strikes, and I was happy to see us have a better performance in regards to walks,” Boxrud said. “I think we did a better job of being in control.”

Otte (10-10) was charged with the loss in the second game, pitching 2 1/3 innings with seven hits, six runs, four of which were earned, with one walk and one strikeout. Marsh again finished up the game, with four hits, one walk and a pair of strikeouts.

CSP’s Erica McCullough was credited the win in game 2, pitching all seven innings with six hits, two earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.

“I think we came out with a lot of good energy in the first game, and we kind of just lost it the second game,” Boxrud said. “We came out, a little too comfortable but, I’m still proud of the way we came back at the end there. I’ll take it as a good day.”

SMSU moves 29-23 overall, and 11-15 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The NSIC Tournament begins April 30 in Sioux Falls, S.D., with the top 10 teams earning a postseason spot.

With two regular season games left, the Mustangs currently sit in ninth place in the NSIC, with Sioux Falls behind with a 9-15 conference record. Wayne State sits above SMSU at 13-10.

SMSU will look to pick up a pair of wins in hopes to secure its first postseason appearance since 2021 when it takes on Minnesota State (35-15, 19-5 NSIC) in Mankato for a doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. MSU is currently second in the NSIC.

“We’re really fortunate. We’re going to have a full week to practice,” Boxrud said. “We’re going to go back, we’ll be able to work on some things, do some individual work, and hopefully be ready to take on Mankato next Sunday.”

SMSU 5, CSP 3

The Mustangs took a 4-0 early lead, and were able to withstand a late offensive push from the Golden Bears in their final at-bat to secure the win.

SMSU had 10 hits and two errors, to CSP’s seven hits and no errors.

Riley Kramolisch and Grace Anderson each had two hits, while Anderson also had a team-high two RBIs. Lexi Ingalls had the largest hit with a triple in the fifth inning.

SMSU brought in two runs in their first at-bat in the first inning with a single fly ball to center field from Grace Anderson to run in both Kramolisch and Boxrud.

Kramolisch originally got on base with a single line drive to third base, and stole second, and Boxrud was walked.

The momentum continued on into the second inning with another two runs.

Miller hit a double to left field and eventually moved to third base off a Lexi Ingalls sacrifice single, and went home for the first run off a Kaylee Hafermann single line drive to right field.

Hafermann then also got to home plate with a Russell single to right center before the Golden Bears could finish the inning.

CSP brought in one run in the fourth with a bunt turned into a single, stealing second and running in with a single to center field.

SMSU held a 5-2 lead, with each team scoring another run, as the Golden Bears stepped up for their final at-bat in the top of the seventh inning,

CSP brought a run in with a runner on second base off a line drive to center field, and proceeded to get bases loaded with two outs.

In a potential game-changing moment, Russell fielded a ground ball at short stop and fed the ball to second baseman Emma Humpal to end the game.

“I thought in game one, we fought really hard. We probably got a little closer than any of us probably would have liked, so you got to give a lot of credit to Concordia … Made it a really interesting seventh inning,” Boxrud said. “You got to give credit to Jordyn Marsh, for coming in and shutting the door in a hard situation.”

GAME 2

CSP 7, SMSU 3

The Golden Bears got their revenge in the second game behind a five-run third inning capitalizing on SMSU’s three errors, and the Mustangs were never able to fully recover despite a late two runs.

SMSU finished with six hits and three errors, while CSP had 11 hits with one error. Kramolisch led with two hits.

CSP scored one run in the first inning, and put the Mustangs into a hole in the third inning with five more runs for a 6-0 lead, while keeping them scoreless through efficient defense.

“They [Concordia] got ahead early and were really aggressive. I didn’t think we were as good at the plate as we’ve been,” Boxrud said. “Defensively, we gave them some opportunities … We competed in the seventh inning, we gave ourselves some opportunities. Just proud of the way they came out here and fought today.”

CSP scored its five runs off of five hits, and Marsh relieved Otte after the Golden Bears loaded the bases up.

SMSU was able to stop CSP’s rally with a ground out and a pair of infield pop flies.

The Mustangs got on the board with a run in the bottom of fourth with Boxrud stealing home from third base off a wild pitch.

Yet, both teams went runless over the next two innings until CSP brought in its final run in the top of the seventh, forcing SMSU into a dire situation down 7-1 in its final batting attempt.

The Mustangs attempted a comeback with two final-inning runs between Van Dyke and Ingalls scoring, initially getting walked and hitting an infield single respectively, yet the Golden Bears defense held it down with two runners on base to finish the final out with an infield grounder force at first base.