Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University's Connor Davis swings at a pitch on March. 31 in Marshall against Bemidji State. The Mustangs dropped a pair of games on Wednesday in a doubleheader to Sioux Falls.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team came up short in a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games on Wednesday against Sioux Falls on the road. The Mustangs dropped the first game 6-2, and fell in the second of the doubleheader, 12-11.

The Cougars ran in three runs in the opening inning of the first game to take an early lead, and finished off the win with the help of two insurance runs in the sixth.

In a tightly-contested second game, SMSU came from behind to take the lead following a six-run fifth inning, but the Cougars ultimately rallied back with four unanswered runs between the seventh and eighth innings.

SMSU outhit USF 16-13 in the second game, committing four errors to the Cougars’ one. USF had nine hits to the Mustangs’ five in the first game, where both teams had no errors.

With the two losses, the Mustangs move to 15-18 overall and 5-16 in conference play. SMSU will next look to snap its four-game skid when it returns home to host conference-leading Minnesota State (23-7, 16-2 NSIC) for a three-game series against Minnesota State this weekend. Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday’s first pitch is slated for noon.

GAME 1

USF 6, SMSU 2

Sioux Falls came out hot and scored a trio of runs in its first at-bat with the help of a three-run homer to right-center field. The Cougars brought in another run in the second inning for a 4-0 edge.

The Mustangs got on the board with one run each in the top of the fourth and sixth, with Connor Davis and Jared Cortez scoring, respectively.

But, USF hung on for the win with the comfort of another pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and held SMSU off in the top of the seventh.

Levi Lampert led SMSU offensively with two hits and one run, while Davis and Evan Behn each had an RBI.

Tad Tjaden spent the entire game on the mound in the first game, finishing with two strikeouts while allowing a pair of walks, nine hits and six earned runs.

GAME 2

USF 12, SMSU 11

SMSU and USF battled off one another in a competitive second game, with only two innings of the nine going scoreless.

The Mustangs took an 11-8 lead after scoring six runs in the top of the fifth inning, after the Cougars rattled off seven runs in the second innings. Josh Berreth hit a two-run homer to right field to score Davis and give SMSU the lead in the fifth.

Yet, USF scored two batters each in the seventh and eighth inning to take back the lead, while the Mustangs couldn’t get back on the board through the final four innings to end the game.

Cortez, Lampert and Brock Woitalla each shared a team-high three hits, while Davis led the Mustangs with four RBIs. Berreth followed with a trio of RBIs.

Three different pitchers saw the mound for SMSU, with Ryan Bell pitching the most with 6 1/3 innings. He threw four strikeouts while allowing one walk, nine hits and two earned runs.

Carson Bougher relieved for one inning, tossing one strikeout while allowing four hits and two earned runs.