CLERMONT, Fla. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team defeated the University of the Sciences, 7-2 on Thursday in nonconference softball. The win gave MSUM a split on the day as the Dragons lost to Trevecca Nazarene, 6-2.

The Dragons are 6-10 on the season and 5-3 so far on their Florida trip. Trevecca Nazarene improved to 10-4 while University of the Sciences fell to 3-9.

Paige was 3-for-3 with an RBI, while freshman first baseman Ashley McCance was 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI. Dummer was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Sophomore designated hitter Payton Gaber and freshman pitcher Becky Berth had hits while junior second baseman Lexie Kennedy had an RBI.  Senior outfielder Aunica Novacek and freshman outfielder Kylie Lange each scored a run.

Berth pitched her best game of the year so far, giving up two runs, only one earned, in seven innings. She struck out a career-high eight and walked two.

"We did a good job bouncing back from the loss earlier in the day," MSUM head coach Kelsey Fehl said. "Becky threw well, we got some key hits to produce runs and we were solid in the field. It was a good all-around team effort."

MSUM was down 1-0 in the second but tied the game in the third, as McCance ripped a double to score Paige, who had singled to lead off the inning.  In the third, junior shortstop Taylor Roddie reached on an error and moved to second on a wild pitch. Gaber singled to move Roddie to third, and Roddie scored on Paige's RBI single. Gaber scored on an error to make it 3-1.

The Dragons added to the lead in fifth. Roddie reached on an error and one out later, Paige singled.  Kennedy drove home Lange, who was pinch running for Paige, on a sacrifice fly. Dummer later hit a two-run single to make it 6-1.

University of the Sciences scored in the sixth to make it 6-2. McCance ripped her second homer of the year in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-2.

In the loss to Trevecca Nazarene, Paige and Gaber were each 1-for-4 with an RBI. Gaber and Dummer had doubles. McCance, Johnson and Kennedy added hits, while Lange scored a run.

Sophomore pitcher Tori White took the loss, giving up four runs, three earned, in 2.1 innings. Gaber pitched 3.2 innings of relief and allowed two earned runs.

The Dragons led 1-0 in the game after an RBI double by Gaber scored Johnson, who led off with a single. But Trevecca scored five runs in the third, taking advantage of a pair of Dragon errors, to take a 5-2 lead.

MSUM was down 6-1 going into the seventh but cut into the lead. Freshman outfielder Kylie Lange was hit by a pitch, and later stole second.  She moved to third on an error and scored on Paige's RBI single. That was as close as MSUM would get. The Dragons left nine runners on base in the loss.

"We had our chances offensively but couldn't come up with the big hit and we couldn't stay out of the big inning," Fehl said.

MSUM wraps up the Florida trip with two games on Friday. The Dragons will face Quincy (Ill.) at 1 p.m. Central time and then Assumption College (Mass.) at 3:30 p.m. CT to conclude the day.