“At first I was kind of sad because I was the only one [senior], but my team made it really special so it was really nice,” Moen said. “It’s been really great just seeing the difference between how we played last year and how we’ve played this year. You can really tell that we’ve been working really hard to get those wins.”

Moen and Sara Dallmann each picked up complete-game pitching wins, Moen limiting the Bluejays to one earned run in the first game and Dallmann limiting them to five earned runs in the second. They each also struck out four batters in their respective games, with Dallmann also racking up three singles and a double across the doubleheader.

Bailynn Parsons was the team’s leader at the plate, finishing the day with six hits. She was particularly impactful in the second game, logging four doubles, a single and driving in five runs while scoring another pair herself.

The Tigers led wire-to-wire for both games. They answered Waseca’s one run in the top of the first with three more in the bottom of the frame in the first game, and rattled off nine runs across the final two innings to secure the mercy rule. They continued to roll in the second with 10 runs in the first three innings, though they had to go the full seven innings to secure the win in the second.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall senior Alissa Moen throws a pitch during a Big South Conference doubleheader against Waseca, Saturday in Marshall.

The Tigers’ 16 runs in the second game tied a season-high after beating Worthington 16-0 earlier this season. The two games are tied for Marshall’s largest offensive output since they beat Worthington 18-8 in its fifth game of the 2023 season.

“[The difference is their] confidence,” Marshall head coach Stacey Baedke said. “I think last year we struggled with confidence all around. Even going against tough teams, we can hit the ball well, we just have to have that confidence. Today it showed, and it worked for us.”

Marshall improves to 4-9, giving them four more wins already than they finished with last year. Marshall has six more games left in its regular-season schedule, starting with a road doubleheader against Willmar on Monday at 4 p.m. The games were still in progress at the time of print. The Tigers also host Tri-City United on Friday for a doubleheader home finale at 4 p.m.

“It’s really nice to see them maturing,” Baedke said. “Last year, it was a lot of, we make one error and we just kind of shut down. This year, we’re able to reset. We still made a few errors today, but we were able to bounce back from them and get hits when we needed the. The growth of watching them mature has been really fun to see.”

GAME 1 (5 inn.)

Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall's Claire Kruse (3) and Taylor Frana (6) celebrate as they run to the dugout after Kruse made an inning-ending catch during the first game of Saturday's Big South Conference doubleheader against Waseca.

Marshall 12, Waseca 2

A two-out single gave Waseca a run in the top of the first inning, but Marshall snatched the lead right back and never looked back. Jenniger Lee hit a leadoff single, stole second and scored the tying run on a Dallmann double, and Bailynn Parsons reached base on an error with two outs to score Dallmann before scoring herself on a Brynlee Dieken single.

Dallmann and Jaylah Morgan each logged a double and two singles for Marshall in the game, including a pair of doubles for Dallmann, while Dieken drove in a game-high three RBIs.

Moen held Waseca to nine hits and a pair of walks over her five innings on the mound, striking out four batters while giving up one earned and one unearned run.

Leading 3-2, Marshall broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth. Morgan hit a leadoff double before a sacrifice bunt and a ground out put two away with a runner on third. Yet, Frana singled in one run, and Dallmann reached on another single before Bitker reached on an error to bring the score to 6-2. After Parsons singled, Dieken crushed a ball deep into center field for a two-run triple and an 8-2 lead.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall catcher Bailynn Parsons (center) high-fives teammates Haylee Kirchner (12) and Natalya Reed (2) after scoring a run in Saturday's Big South Conference softball doubleheader, Saturday in Marshall.

The Tigers clinched the win with a four-run fifth inning. Morgan again led off the rally with a single and Natalya Reed reached on an error to put two runners on. Morgan scored on a passed ball before Lee was hit by a pitch, bringing the mercy-rule run to the plate.

With one out, Dallmann hit an RBI single and Lee scored on a passed ball to put the clinching run on third. Another passed ball sent Dallmann home to finalize the victory.

Waseca capitalized on a Marshall error in the third to score an unearned run, cutting the gap to 3-2, but Moen held the Bluejays in check for the rest of the game.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE

BATTING

J. Lee: 1-3, HBP 2 R, SB; T. Frana: 1-4, RBI, R, SO; S. Dallmann: 3-4 (2B), 2 RBI, 3 R; K. Bitker: 1-3, BB, R; B. Parsons: 1-3, SB, 2 R; B. Dieken: 2-3 (3B), 3 RBI, SB; J. Morgan: 3-3 (2B), R; N. Reed: 0-0, R.

PITCHING

A. Moen: W, 5 IP, 9 H, 2 R, ER, 2 BB, 4 SO.

GAME 2

Marshall 16, Waseca 7

The Tigers took command of the day’s second game with a five-run third inning. Leading 5-3, Haylee Kirchner and Reed singled and Morgan walked to load the bases. Lee got the party started with an RBI single, and a passed ball scored Reed. With two outs, Bitker hit a two-run double and Parsons followed with an RBI double to bring the gap to 10-3.

Over her seven innings pitched, Dallmann struck out four batters without giving up a walk. She surrendered five earned and a pair of unearned runs on 12 hits.

In addition to Parsons’ five hits for five RBIs, Bitker also logged a double, a single and a walk for three RBIs while Kirchner finished with three singles and a pair of walks in three at-bats.

The Tigers first took the lead when Lee singled and Dallmann walked in the first, and Bitker hit a sacrifice fly and Parsons doubled to drive in a run each.

An inning later, Marshall continued to build up its lead. Reed walked and Dallmann reached on an error to start the second, and Dallmann scored on a passed ball. After another walk to Bitker, Parsons hit a two-run double to bring Marshall’s lead to 5-0.

Waseca answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, but Marshall’s five-run third was more than enough to keep the Tigers’ lead intact.

Bitker and Parsons each singled in the fifth, scoring on a Moen ground out and a passed ball. Waseca responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, but Marshall scored another three two-out sixth-inning runs on a Parsons RBI double and RBI singles from Dieken and Kirchner.

The Bluejays scored on a sac fly in the sixth to break up the mercy rule, but weren’t able to cut further into the deficit. The Tigers and Bluejays each scored another seventh-inning run to finalize the nine-run win for Marshall.

GAME 2 BOX SCORE

BATTING

J. Lee: 3-5, BB, RBI, 3 R, 2 SB; T. Frana: 0-2, 2 R, SB, SO; S. Dallmann: 1-4, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 SB, 2 SO; K. Bitker: 2-4 (2B), BB, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB, SO; B. Parsons: 5-5 (4 2B), 5 RBI, 2 R, SB; B. Dieken: 1-3, BB, RBI, R, SB; A. Moen: 0-1, RBI; H. Kirchner: 3-3, 2 BB, RBI, R; J. Morgan: 0-4, BB, 2 SO; N. Reed: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 R

PITCHING

S. Dallmann: W, 7 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 4 SO.