Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University outfielder Riley Kramolisch rounds third during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball game against Jamestown in Marshall. SMSU took on Minot State and UMary in North Dakota over the weekend, getting swept by the Beavers before sweeping the Marauders.

MINOT, N.D. — The Southwest Minnesota Softball team dropped a pair of Norther Sun Intercollegiate Conference games against Minot State on Saturday before bouncing back with a sweep of UMary on Sunday to close out the regular season. The Mustangs’ 10-2 loss in five innings and 7-2 loss to the Beavers dropped them down in the NSIC standings, but they responded with a 9-2 and 17-6 win over UMary on Sunday to finish the regular season eighth place.

Outfielder Riley Kramolisch made history on the second day of the doubleheader, beating out a bunt single in the second inning of the second game to surpass Bailey Johnson for the SMSU career hits record. She now sits at 227 career hits.

Emma Humpal homered in each of SMSU’s two games against UMary while Jordyn Marsh also hit a solo homer.

Marsh and Ramsey Hopp each split their starts, earning a win against UMary and a loss against Minot State.

SMSU closes out the regular season at 31-25 overall and 17-13 in conference play. The Mustangs will now take on No. 9 Sioux Falls in the play-in round of the conference tournament, hosted by Augustana (S.D.) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., and would advance to take on top-seeded Winona State in the quarterfinals on Thursday with a win.

SATURDAY

GAME 1 (5 Inn.)

MiSU 10, SMSU 2

Minot State first took the lead with a solo homer in the first, though Carley Stych drove in Kennah Bretschneider in the second to tie the game.

Yet, Minot State responded with four more runs in the bottom of the frame, kicked off by a solo homer, and added a two-run homer in the third, two more runs, including a solo homer in the fourth, and an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the mercy rule win.

Jordyn Marsh took the loss, giving up 10 earned runs on 14 hits over four innings.

Stych led SMSU with two singles and two RBIs in the game, her other hit coming as an RBI single in the fourth. Marsh also reached base three times with a single and two walks.

MiSU 7, SMSU 2

The Mustangs fell into an early hole in the second game and never recovered. The Beavers scored a pair of second-inning runs, a solo homer in the third and another run in the fourth and fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead.

Emma Humpal drove in Kramolisch in the sixth to get SMSU on the scoreboard, but a two-run homer in the sixth gave the Beavers a six-run cushion.

Ava Rud drove in Morgan Alar on a ground out in the seventh, but the Mustangs weren’t able to rally for a win.

Ingalls doubled for the Mustangs’ lone extra-base hit, and Rud reached base twice with a single and a walk.

Ramsey Hopp pitched all six innings for SMSU, giving up five earned runs on seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

SUNDAY

GAME 1

SMSU 9, UMary 2

UMary scored the game’s first run with a solo homer in the second, but Jordyn Marsh scored Paris Van Dyke on a sac fly in the fourth to tie up the game. A pair of solo homers by Humpal and Marsh gave the Mustangs the lead for good.

Humpal and Marsh each finished the game with a homer, two singles and two RBIs. Aliza Acker also logged two singles and two RBIs.

Marsh earned the pitching win for the Mustangs, striking out 10 batters over seven innings. She gave up one earned run on six hits with no walks.

SMSU pulled away further with six seventh-inning runs. Acker kicked off the rally with a two-run single, Humpal and Bretschneider each also singled in a run with a second scoring on an error on Bretschneider’s single, and Ingalls singled in Bretschneider for a 9-1 lead.

GAME 2

SMSU 17, UMary 6

The Mustangs’ bats were firing from the jump in the second game of the day, with Emma Humpal hitting a three-run homer in the first to take an early lead.

Hopp pitched the first six innings, giving up six earned runs on 12 hits and a walk. Marsh closed out the game with a scoreless seventh inning, giving up one hit.

Humpal, Kramolisch, Bretschneider and Stych each logged three hits in the game, including six RBIs for Humpal and a double each for Stych and Kramolisch.

SMSU continued to pull away with five second-inning runs. The Mustangs loaded the bases before Humpal was hit by a pitch to push across the first run. Bretschneider drove in another run with a single, as two other runs scored on an error, and Bretschneider scored on a wild pitch to make the score 8-0.

UMary cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in each of the next two innings, but Ingalls got a run back when she scored after UMary committed an error trying to catch her stealing third.

After UMary scored a pair of runs in the fifth, SMSU exploded for eight seventh-inning runs to put the game to bed. Stych hit an RBI single before Kramolisch hit a two-run double. Humpal also added a two-run single before Hopp, Bretschneider and Alar each drove in another run.