Photo by Jake McNeill: The Southwest Minnesota State University shakes hands with Wayne State after a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament game at Bowden Field in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Wednesday. The Wildcats walked off the Mustangs 4-3 in the first round of the tournament, ending SMSU's season.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Southwest Minnesota State softball team fell just shy of its first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament win since 2022 on Wednesday at Bowden Field. The ninth-seeded Mustangs held the lead in the seventh inning of their first-round matchup against No. 8 Wayne State, but the Wildcats scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to walk off SMSU 4-3. 

“We challenged them all year to compete and fight, and they did… They left it all out there,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “Obviously there are some plays we’d like back, but at the end of the day, they fought and put themselves in the situation to be successful. Just have to give credit to Wayne State, they got the hits when they needed to. But I’m really proud of this group, they fought and were true Mustangs.”

Emilee Marth led off the Wildcats’ last-inning rally with a leadoff single and Taylor Coleman lined a single down the third baseline to put runners on the corners with one out. 

After Coleman stole second to get in scoring position, Scobee drilled a single up the middle to score Marth. SMSU second baseman Emma Humpal dove to field the ball before throwing it home, but SMSU catcher Grace Anderson couldn’t hold onto the ball and Coleman scored the game-winning run to end the Mustangs’ season.

Defensive lapses were an issue for the Mustangs at points. SMSU committed five errors in the game compared to none for Wayne State, resulting in two unearned runs for the Wildcats.

“Sometimes the ball rolls your way, sometimes it just doesn’t, and today was just a day that it wasn’t going to roll our way,” Bouman said. “Given how many errors we did commit, we put ourselves in position to still win the game, so that shows that we were fighting and we were executing.”

Jordyn Marsh came into the game for the final 1 1/3 innings with the save opportunity but gave up two earned runs on three hits to fall to 6-4 on the season.

Marsh took over for Karlie Miller with two runners on and no outs in the sixth. She struck out the first batter she faced, and shortstop Abby Russell fielded a ground ball, tagged second and threw it to Van Dyke at first for the inning-ending double play. 

“There’s just an expectation of working hard in practice on plays like those and just making them routine,” Russell said. “That’s something you should be able to do, it shouldn’t be hard if you put the work in.”

In her final collegiate start, Miller put together a stellar performance. She didn’t allow an earned run over five innings in the circle, striking out four batters while allowing a pair of unearned runs on three hits and four walks.

“This was kind of it for me as a senior, so I just went out there and played my heart out,” Miller said. “I felt like the ump had a lower strike zone, so I was able to get those strikes lower most of the game and it worked.”

Anderson gave SMSU its first lead of the game in the top of the second, smashing a solo home run over the right field wall for her second homer of the season. 

Samantha Felt improved to 8-5 on the year after pitching three scoreless innings of relief for the Wildcats. She struck out one batter while allowing a pair of hits.

Wayne State took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Mustangs retired each of the first two batters of the frame, but Scobee reached on an error by Lexi Ingalls at third and Hayley Murphy doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Another error by Humpal at second then allowed both runners to score on a Mary Krystofiak ground ball to make the score 2-1.

Anderson also led off the fourth inning with a walk. Peyton Verdon came in as a pinch runner and advanced to third base on a Paris Van Dyke ground out and a wild pitch. With two outs, Kaylee Hafermann then singled into right field to drive in Anderson for the tying run. 

Hafermann had a pair of hits for the Mustangs while Anderson and Russell each recorded a hit and a walk. Boxrud also walked twice in the game.

Wayne State put runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, but SMSU got a force out at third and two at second base to leave runners stranded on the corners and keep the game tied.

Kennadi Borngrebe left the game with a no-decision after throwing the first four innings for Wayne State. She gave up a pair of unearned runs on four walks and two walks with a strikeout. 

Grace Lucka took over for Wayne in the circle to start the fifth inning but was pulled after she walked Abby Boxrud, Abby Russell and Humpal consecutively to start the inning. Each of her first 10 pitches went for a ball before she put two strikes against Humpal and then another pair of balls.

Murphy fielded an Anderson short grounder by the plate before tagging Boxrud to put one away, but Van Dyke hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field to score Russell before a ground out ended the inning with two Mustangs left stranded. 

Marth led the Wildcat offense with a double and a single, Murphy logged a double and a walk while Scobee contributed a double, a walk and two RBIs. 

End of an era

The Mustangs graduated four seniors, with Morgyn Otte, Miller and Russell having spent their full four years with SMSU and Boxrud transferring in as a sophomore after starting her collegiate career at the University of St. Thomas. 

“We came in four years ago, and this is a completely different program from where we started,” Russell said. “I’m really proud of overcoming a lot of obstacles that we’ve had, not only in the last four years but this year… [Us four seniors] have just really pushed to make this a better program and see growth every day, and I’m just really proud of them and the whole team.

“They are the epitome of what it means to be a Mustang,” Bouman said of her seniors. “They fight, they work, they grind, they have grit. They came in… and were expected to play very big roles and every year they got better. Every year they’ve led and they’ve made our team better, and they’re leaving this program in a much better place.”

Russell in the record books

Russell leaves as the Mustangs’ all-time leader in assists, finishing her career with 462 after recording six on Wednesday. Her total puts her one ahead of Kari Topper, who recorded 461 from 1998 to 2001. 

End-of-year hardware

SMSU outfielder Riley Kramolisch was named to the All-NSIC second team on Tuesday, making her the eighth Mustang to receive second-team honors and the first to make it since 2023. She batted .381 on the season and finished third in the conference with 37 hits.

Up next

SMSU finishes its season at 29-26 overall and 11-18 against NSIC opponents. The season marked SMSU’s first appearance in the postseason since 2022 when it defeated Sioux Falls 3-2 in Rochester before falling to Augustana and Minnesota Duluth. The Mustangs’ 29 wins were also their most since 2011’s 29-19 campaign. 

Wayne State improves to 31-23 overall and 15-13 in the NSIC with the win, and will now face top-seeded Augustana (43-9, 25-3 NSIC) at Bowden Field on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.