Mar 22, 2025
Photo by Jake McNeill Southwest Minnesota State University shortstop Abby Russell slides into third base during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball game against Minnesota Crookston on Friday at Mattke Field in Marshall.
MARSHALL — In its first official Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action of the season, the Southwest Minnesota State University earned a split against Minnesota Crookston on Friday at Mattke Field. The Mustangs held on despite a fourth-inning rally from the Golden Eagles to snag a 9-8 victory in the first game before their own rally fell short, 6-5, in the rematch.
Just a year after finishing 19-32, Friday’s results bring SMSU’s record up to 19-9 this season.
“They’ve just done a good job of competing,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “We had a great spring trip. We competed, we played a lot of games and then we came out here and competed hard for a doubleheader. Obviously game two maybe didn’t go how we wanted, but at the end of the day, we competed and we gave ourselves opportunities.”
SMSU had played games against Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State earlier in the season, but all four were played as non-conference games.
The Mustangs will return to action at Mattke Field today at noon when they host Bemidji State for another pair of NSIC matchups. Both today’s and Friday’s games were originally scheduled to be played on the road, but were relocated to Marshall due to inclement weather. As such, the Mustangs will be batting in the top of the inning again today.
Game 1
SMSU 9,
UMC 8
SMSU held a 9-3 lead with two outs in the bottom of the fourth when Crookston made a game out of it. Jocelyn Hernandez was the first runner to reach base on a walk, Chayse Doering reached on an error by Riley Kramolisch and Madisen Yandle walked to load the bases.
Rayna French broke the tension by driving in a pair of runs on an error by Abby Russell and Hannah Trzinski singled to drive in another pair. Irelyn Spencer drove in Trzinski on the third Mustang error of the inning and the second by Russell, but Jordyn Marsh relieved Karlie Miller and struck out Bryanna Decker to leave the tying run stranded.
Marsh pitched lights-out for the game’s remaining three innings, holding the Golden Eagles to two walks, no other baserunners and striking out a pair of batters to help SMSU hold on to its one-run lead. The result improved Marsh’s record to 6-2 on the season.
“She’s done a good job of, like you said, staying composed in those situations,” Bouman said of Marsh. “She pounded the strike zone and gave our defense opportunities to get outs. She’s just kind of been that steady kind of closing role for us right now, and she’s done a really good job. Nothing rattles her too much.”
The Mustangs struck first with a pair of first-inning runs. Kramolisch singled up the middle to lead off the game, advanced to third on a wild pitch and an Abby Boxrud bunt, and scored on an Abby Russell single. Boxrud then also went on to score on a Paris Van Dyke ground out to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Mustangs.
In the second, SMSU’s lead ballooned to 7-0. Karlie Miller singled and Lexi Ingalls doubled before Kaylee Hafermann followed up with another RBI single when Crookston pulled Sydney McMurdie for Charlotte Dombrowski.
Still, the Mustangs continued to rally. Boxrud drove in Ingalls with a single and Russell tripled to right-center field to drive in the third and fourth runs of the frame. Russell then scored on an Emma Humpal sacrifice fly to make the score 7-0.
“They did a good job of being aggressive, but selectively aggressive,” Bouman said of the rally. “They did a good job of looking for their pitch and then jumping on it when they found it, and then executing. When you get people on base, you’ve got to find ways to score them. I thought we did a good job of hitting the ball hard and finding ways to score runs.”
McMurdie was charged with five earned runs on six hits over one inning in the start, dropping her to 3-3 on the season, while Dombrowski allowed two earned and two unearned runs over the game’s final six innings. She allowed six hits and one walk in the relief appearance.
Boxrud led SMSU with three hits in the game while Russell and Miller each recorded a single and a double. Russell’s three RBIs were a game-high.
Crookston answered SMSU’s rally with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, with Haley Koch driving in Trzinski on a sacrifice fly. Still, SMSU continued to extend its cushion to eight runs in the third when Boxrud and Kramolisch singled before being driven in when Russell reached base on an error by Hernandez.
Miller was tagged for three earned and five unearned runs in her start, going 3 2/3 before leaving with a no-decision. She struck out two batters while giving up three hits and six walks.
Game 2
UMC 6,
SMSU 5
Minnesota Crookston took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning by capitalizing on a handful of SMSU miscues. Yandle started off the frame by reaching on an error by second baseman Lexi Ingalls and got to third base on a Trzinski single. From there, Spencer popped a ball up to center field, but Hafermann lost it in the sun and Yandle scored to make the score 3-2.
Decker kept the rally going when she hit a slow grounder to third. SMSU catcher Grace Anderson tagged Trzinski out, but Crookston challenged the play and the out was overturned after the officiating crew ruled the play baserunner interference. Koch then drove in Spencer on a fielder’s choice to make the score 5-2.
Morgyn Otte was charged with the loss, dropping her record to 6-3 on the season after allowing five unearned runs in the five-inning outing. She surrendered five hits and a pair of walks while striking out a pair of batters. Marsh also allowed one earned run on one hit in an inning of relief.
SMSU came back within a run when Van Dye walked, advanced to second on a Webber bunt and scored when Ireland made a throwing error after fielding Anderson’s bunt at third. Kramolisch also drove in Webber on a ground out to second, but another ground out from Boxrud left runners stranded on second and third.
Crookston got another run in the bottom of the sixth when Hafermann misplayed a fly ball to center field. Hafermann tried to slide to make the grab, but the ball bounced past her and Doering rounded the bases for an inside-the-park solo home run to give the Golden Eagles a 6-4 lead heading into the final frame.
With their backs against the wall, the Mustangs started the final frame strong with a triple from Russell. Humpal drove in Russell on a sacrifice fly to right field, but a line out and ground out from Van Dyke and Webber ended the game with SMSU falling one run shy.
Russell and Anderson each had a pair of hits for the Mustangs, including an extra-base hit for each, while Van Dyke walked twice. Anderson and Humpal also drove in three and two runs, respectively.
Delaney Penner improved to 4-0 in the circle for Crookston, allowing one earned and three unearned runs over 5 1/3 innings. She gave up four hits and five walks while striking out a pair of Mustangs. In relief, Alexa Guilford earned her third save of the season after giving up one earned run on one hit over 1 2/3 frames.
SMSU scored the game’s first run when Kramolisch hit a leadoff single before scoring on a Humpal sacrifice fly.
Crookston claimed its first lead of the day in the third inning. Koch led off the frame with a ground-rule double and scored on a throwing error from Humpal at third base on a Doering bunt. Doering advanced to third on a French single and Otte fumbled a slow bouncer up the middle from Trzinski to allow Doering to score.
Van Dyke gave SMSU a tying run in the fourth when she drew a leadoff walk and scored on an Anderson double.
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