ABERDEEN, S.D. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team dropped a pair of nonconference games on Friday at the Presentation Dome in Aberdeen, S.D. The Dragons dropped a 5-3 contest to Minnesota Crookston and a 6-2 game to Minot State.

The Dragons finished their season-opening week at 1-3.

Freshman left fielder Madison Paige was 2-for-3 with a double and and RBI while senior first baseman Lauren Meeker was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI. Senior center fielder Carly Williamson was 2-for-4. Senior designated hitter Kristina Villalobos was 1-for-4 with an RBI while junior catcher Megan Asham and freshman third baseman Emma Dummer had hits.

Freshman pitcher Jordan Hall took the loss, going 3 1/3 innings. She struck out two and walked two and allowed five runs (three earned). Freshman Becky Volkert pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Dragons fell behind 5-0 after four innings but cut into the lead in the fifth. With one out Williamson  doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. One out later, Paige doubled to score Williamson with the Dragons' first run. Villalobos followed with a single to score Paige, bringing MSUM within 5-2. A Meeker single brought the tying run to the plate but a groundout ended the inning.

Meeker's solo homer in the seventh cut the UMC lead to 5-3 but the Dragons got no closer.

MSUM finished with nine hits but left nine runners on base.

"We are putting the ball in play and getting runners on, we just need to come up with some timely hits to score those runners," MSUM head coach Kelsey Fehl said. "Becky Volkert is doing a great job keeping hitters off balance and getting key outs."

In the loss to Minot, sophomore right fielder Aunica Novacek was 2-for-2 with an RBI while Dummer was 2-for-3. Williamson and sophomore catcher Savanah Tweet had hits.

Freshman Tori White, making her first collegiate start, took the loss, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing five runs, all earned. She struck out one. Volkert pitched the final 3 2/3 innings and allowed just one run.

The Dragons fell behind 6-0 but put together a rally in the seventh. Dummer led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout. Novacek singled and wound up driving in Dummer. Novacek advanced to third thanks to a throwing error, and scored on an illegal pitch. The Dragons got no closer, however.

MSUM resumes on Feb. 27-28 at the Dragon-Beaver Battle in West St. Paul, Minn. MSUM will play three nonconference games that weekend plus an exhibition against Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

Notes: Paige finished the week hitting .429 with two homers, a double and five RBI. She has a slugging percentage of .929…Volkert is off to a strong start on the mound, allowing just one earned run in 8 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.81…Novacek leads MSUM with a .500 average through four games and is tied for second with two RBI…MSUM belted four homers on the week, two by Paige and one apiece by Dummer and Meeker.