MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team suffered a pair of gut-wrenching one-run losses on Thursday, falling to Southwest Minnesota State, 1-0 and 3-2 in action at the MSUM Softball Field in Moorhead, Minn.
MSUM fell to 7-11 overall and 0-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with the losses while SMSU improved to 6-15 overall and 2-2 in the league.
"Our pitchers are throwing well and giving us a chance to win," MSUM head coach
Kelsey Fehl said. "Defensively we have been solid and are making plays. Offensively, we need to be more consistent putting the ball in play and stringing hits together to produce more runs."
In the first game, senior
Morgan Nybo pitched well for the Dragons, going the distance and allowing one earned run. She surrendered seven hits while striking out a season-high nine and walking two.
Freshman shortstop
Taylor Roddie had a double for MSUM, while junior center fielder
Carly Williamson and junior first baseman
Lauren Meeker had hits for MSUM.
The Dragons' best chance was in the first. With one out, Roddie doubled, and moved to third on a passed ball. But a strikeout and line-out ended the threat for the Dragons.
The game remained scoreless until SMSU scored the lone run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Taylor Chavez. The Dragons put the tying run on the base in the seventh but a strikeout ended the threat.
In the second game, freshman catcher
Savanah Tweet was 1-for-3 with two RBI for MSUM. Williamson, senior pitcher
Kristen Nordby, junior right fielder
Hannah Klug and junior second baseman
Jill Fox added hits for MSUM.
Nordby took the loss for MSUM. She allowed three runs and seven hits, striking out three.
The game was scoreless until the fifth. With one out, Klug singled, and moved to third on a single to right by Fox, who moved to second on the throw. One out later, Tweet singled to right to score both runners, giving MSUM a 2-0 lead.
The game stayed 2-0 until the top of the seventh, when the Mustangs scored three runs off of four hits to take a 3-2 lead. The Dragons were unable to get a run across in the seventh and fell short.
MSUM is back in action on Friday when it hosts Sioux Falls. The doubleheader begins at 11 a.m. at the MSUM Softball Field. The game start was moved up an hour as a result of rain in the forecast.
