Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University held the visiting Northern State University Wolves to just one run in two games on Saturday, sweeping the day's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader by final scores of 9-1 (5 innings) and 7-0.
The losses drop NSU to 5-19 overall and 1-7 in league play, while the Mustangs move above the .500 mark with the two wins and now sit at 11-10 overall and 4-2 in the loop.
NSU scored their lone run of the day in the top of the first inning of Game 1. Sophomore Brooke Norris led off the inning with a slap single to third base, then moved to second on Cat Zimmerman's sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Whitney Luhring – who entered the weekend with a solid .411 batting average – brought Norris home with an RBI single back up the middle.
That, however, would be the extend of the NSU offense, as the Mustangs used two home runs and scored at least one run in every inning to run away with the 9-1 victory.
Sophomore Kelli Bornander took the loss on the mound for the Wolves, surrendering seven earned runs in three innings of work. Luhring ended the game with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, marking her ninth multiple-hit game of the season.
SMSU then rode a 4-hit shutout performance from pitcher Lauren Smith to keep the Wolves at bay in Game 2. The two teams played through three and a half scoreless innings before the Mustangs erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth.
SMSU strung together five straight hits to lead off the inning, chasing NSU starter Rachel South in the process. Freshman Stephanie Horkey came on in relief and sat the next three Mustangs down in order to get out of the inning.
The Mustangs added two more in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 7-0 final.
NSU will look to get back on track on Sunday, but will have to go through 24th ranked Minnesota State University, Mankato in the process. Sunday's conference doubleheader is slated for a noon start time in Mankato. The Mavericks are coming off a pair of losses to the University of Mary on Saturday.
