MOORHEAD, Minn. – Senior pitcher Morgan Nybo threw a three-hit shutout and junior first baseman Lauren Meeker was 2-for-3 to help the Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team to an 8-0 win over Minnesota Crookston in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Friday. The Dragons had to settle for a split as the Golden Eagles won the second game, 6-4.

MSUM is now 16-28 overall and 9-19 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Minnesota Crookston is 10-38 overall and 4-24 in the league.

In the opener, Nybo fired a three-hit shutout, striking out seven while walking one.

"Morgan did a good job of keeping their hitters off-balance," MSUM head coach Kelsey Fehl said.

Meeker was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI to pace a balanced attack. Junior center fielder Carly Williamson was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Senior second baseman Kristen Nordby was 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Nybo was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Senior left fielder Kristy Bruni was 1-for-3 with an RBI while freshman shortstop Taylor Roddie was 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Freshman third baseman Morgan Anderson was 1-for-2 with an RBI while junior designated hitter Jill Fox was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

The Dragons struck quickly. Williamson and Roddie led off with back-to-back singles. Nordby hit a pop behind first that bounced off the foot of a UMC player just inside fair territory, allowing both runners to score to make it 2-0.

The lead grew to 3-0 in the third. Roddie walked, and would score when Bruni's fly ball was dropped in center field.

MSUM moved the lead to 4-0 in the fourth when Meeker doubled with one out. Freshman KyLee Bartholomay pinch-ran for Meeker and moved to third on a ground out.  Freshman catcher Savanah Tweet hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped, allowing Bartholomay to score MSUM's fourth run.

MSUM broke the game open in the fifth. With one out, Nordby was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a Bruni groundout. Nybo singled to score Nordby, and moved to second on a single by Fox. Meeker's single to right scored Nybo, and Anderson singled to left to make it 7-0.

"We put the ball in play and made some things happen on the bases," Fehl said.

The Dragons put the game away by the eight-run rule in the sixth. Williamson reached on a bunt single, and moved to second on a groundout. One out later, Bruni reached on an infield single to score Williamson to make it 8-0.

In the second game, Tweet had collegiate-best three hits, going 3-for-3 with a double, while Bruni was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, while Nybo was 2-for-3. Nordby was 1-for-4 with an RBI while Williamson, junior third baseman Kristina Villalobos and Williamson were each 1-for-3. Meeker had an RBI.

Nordby took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) in 5.2 innings. She struck out six and allowed nine hits. Nybo -- who has thrown 14.1 straight scoreless innings -- gave up one hit and no runs over the final 1.1 innings.

The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the first, thanks to a two-out, two-run single by Alexis Khoshaba. In the second, the lead grew to 4-0 when the Golden Eagles scored two unearned runs on an error with two out.

The Dragons, who left two runners on in both the second and third innings, finally got on the board in the fourth. Bruni singled and stole a pair of bases. Fox walked to put runners on first and third. Meeker hit a grounder to the right side, scoring Bruni with MSUM's first run.

They tied the game in the fifth. Tweet led off with a single, and was moved to second on a bunt by Williamson. One out later, Nordby singled to left to score Tweet, bringing MSUM within 4-2. Bruni then stepped up and hit a two-run homer to right center to tie the game at 4-4.

UMC put the first two runners on in the sixth. Nordby got the next two outs, but a two-run, two-out single by Kristi Larson broke the tie and gave the Golden Eagles a 6-4 lead.

"Minnesota Crookston got some big two-out hits when we had chances to get out of innings," Fehl said. "Offensively we battled back to tie the game but we had other opportunities and didn't capitalize on them."

MSUM brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth after a double by Tweet but a groundout ended the threat. The Dragons went down in order in the seventh to fall two runs short.

MSUM wraps up the regular season on Saturday against Bemidji State. The home doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. at the MSUM Softball Field. The Dragons' three seniors will be recognized prior to the start of the doubleheader.