CLERMONT, Fla. — An offensive explosion which featured 24 runs and 26 hits propelled the Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team to a pair of nonconference wins on Wednesday. MSUM beat Nyack College, 10-9 and then rallied for a 14-9 win over Holy Family (Pa.) to cap off the unbeaten day.

MSUM is now 5-9 overall and is 4-2 on its Florida trip so far.

"Both wins today were gritty, team wins," MSUM head coach Kelsey Fehl said. "The games were back and forth and we kept finding ways to score runs."

It was a huge day for sophomore outfielder Madison Paige, who was 7-of-8 with two doubles, a homer and five RBI in the two wins.

In the win over Nyack, Paige was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Junior second baseman Lexie Kennedy was 2-for-4 with three RBI while senior outfielder Aunica Novacek was 1-for-1 with a three-run homer and two runs scored. Freshman Elizabeth Johnson was 2-for-5, while freshman pitcher Becky Berth was 1-for-3 with two RBI. Junior shortstop Taylor Roddie, sophomore third baseman Payton Gaber, sophomore third baseman Emma Dummer, and freshman first baseman Ashley McCance all had hits.

Berth got the win, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing seven runs, six earned.She strikeout three and walked five. Sophomore Tori White picked up the save, allowing no earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.

MSUM trailed 2-0 but tied the game on a two-run triple by Berth in the second. In the third, Kennedy ripped a two-run double to put MSUM up 4-2. In the fourth, Novacek provided the big hit, the three-run homer, to make it 8-2. Paige added a two-run double in the fifth to make it 10-2.

Nyack rallied with five runs in the fifth to make it 10-7, and added two more unearned runs in the sixth to cut the lead
to 10-9. White made the lead stand, retiring Nyack in order in the seventh to preserve the win.

In the win over Holy Family, Paige was 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. Gaber was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. McCance was 1-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Roddie and Johnson were each 2-for-5 with two RBI. Novacek was 1-for-4 with an RBI while Kennedy had two RBI.

Novacek picked up the first pitching win of her career in relief of Gaber. She allowed one earned run in 1.1 innings. Berth picked up the save, going the final three innings and allowing one earned run.

MSUM led 3-2 after the first inning, capitalizing on a pair of Holy Family errors. Holy Family came back with a five-run third to take a 7-3 lead.

MSUM broke through in the bottom of the third. McCance had a two-run single in that inning while Roddie, Kennedy and Johnson had RBI as MSUM regained the lead at 8-7.

Holy Family tied the game at 8-8 with a solo homer, and McCance walked to force in a run to make it 9-8 in the fourth.

Paige delivered the big hit of the game, a three-run homer in the fifth, to make it 12-8. In the sixth MSUM added insurance runs on an RBI double by Johnson and an RBI single by Roddie.

"We always stress being aggressive at the plate and that's exactly what we did today," Fehl said. "Scoring 24 runs in one day is huge. It took everyone on the team to step up and contribute."

MSUM will face Trevecca Nazarene at 3:30 p.m. Central time on Thursday and will face University of the Sciences at 6 p.m. CT.