MOORHEAD, Minn. – Big days at the plate from senior outfielder Carly Williamson and freshman outfielder Madison Paige helped the Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team earn a 7-4 win over Bentley Wednesday in Clermont, Fla. MSUM settled for a split on the day as the Dragons lost to No. 13-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan, 15-3 later in the afternoon.

MSUM is now 5-10 in nonconference games.

Against Bentley, Williamson was 3-for-5 with a triple and RBI and two runs scored while Paige was 3-for-5 with a double. Senior Hannah Klug was 1-for-4 with a triple and two RBI while freshman third baseman Emma Dummer was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Senior designated hitter Kristina Villalobos was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Sophomore shortstop Taylor Roddie was 1-for-5 with an RBI while sophomore catcher Savanah Tweet had a hit.

Freshman pitcher Tori White picked up the win, going four innings. She struck out three and walked two and gave up three runs, two were earned. Freshman pitcher Becky Volkert got the save, going the final three innings and allowing one earned run.

"It was a gritty win for us," MSUM head coach Kelsey Fehl said. "They put a lot of pressure on us but we were able to pitch out of some tough situations. And we got some timely hits."

MSUM finished with 13 hits, recording double-digit hits for a fourth straight game.

The Dragons struck in the second. Dummer led off with a single and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by sophomore second baseman Aunica Novacek. Villalobos was hit by a pitch. Klug delivered a huge two-out hit, a two-run triple, to put MSUM up 2-0. Williamson followed with a triple of her own to score Klug, making it 3-0. Roddie's RBI single scored Williamson with MSUM's fourth run of the inning.

Bentley scored in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 4-1, but MSUM got the run back in the third as Villalobos ripped an RBI double to score Dummer, who had reached on an error.

The Dragon lead shrunk to 5-3 but MSUM scored twice in the seventh to extend the lead. Sophomore KyLee Barthomolay, who was pinch running for Villalobos, scored on a wild pitch, while Williamson scored on an error to make it 7-3.

Bentley  brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh but Volkert escaped, giving MSUM the three-run win.

Against nationally-ranked WVWC, senior second baseman Jill Fox was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Senior first baseman Lauren Meeker was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI while Dummer was 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Senior designated hitter Kristina Villalobos had a triple and a run scored. Williamson, Novacek and Paige each had hits for MSUM, which finished with eight for the game.

Freshman pitcher Jordan Hall took the loss, giving up five earned runs in two innings. White pitched the final three and gave up nine runs, but only four were earned.

The Dragons committed four errors in the game which led to six unearned runs for West Virginia Wesleyan.

WVWC built a 6-0 lead in the game. In the third, MSUM got on the board. Williamson singled and two outs later, scored on Meeker's RBI double. Dummer hit a double to left to score Meeker to bring MSUM within 6-2.

The Dragons fell victim to a big inning in the fourth as the Bobcats scored eight times. MSUM scored its third run in the fourth when an RBI single from Fox scored Villalobos, who had tripled to lead off the inning.

MSUM wraps up the Florida trip on Thursday with a pair of games. The Dragons will face Wilmington University at 2:30 p.m. Central time and Walsh University at 5 p.m.