CLERMONT, Fla. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team picked up two wins to open its Florida trip, beating the College of St. Rose, 6-1 and Felician, 8-3 in action Friday in Clermont, Fla.

MSUM is now 2-8 on the year. The two wins are the first as Dragon head coach for Amanda Reckamp.

"It is great to get in the win column on Day 1 here in Florida," Reckamp said. "We focused in the last week on adjustments we needed to make and things came together in a big way for us. Becky and Anna allowed only 10 hits total on the day as they both captured a win on the mound."

Sophomore Becky Berth pitched her best game of the year, giving up one unearned run in seven innings. She struck out four and walked one.

Redshirt freshman Samantha Gjerde had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Freshman shortstop Kaiya Sundeen was 1-for-3 with two RBI while freshman catcher Jordie McNeilly was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Berth finished 2-for-2 with a run scored.  Sophomore first baseman Ashley McCance had a double and a run scored while junior third baseman Emma Dummer had a double. Sophomore Elizabeth Johnson had a hit while senior second baseman Taylor Roddie scored a run.

A three-run second inning was sparked by a two-run double from Sundeen to score Berth, who had singled and to score Roddie, who had reached on an error, and an RBI single by McNeilly.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the fourth when Gjerde belted a two-run homer to score freshman outfielder Shay Weber, who had walked to lead off the winning.

Gjerde's RBI single in the sixth to score McCance, who had doubled to lead off the inning, added an insurance run for MSUM.

Berth retired the first 10 batters she faced in the game and only allowed an unearned run in the sixth to pick up her first win of 2019.

In the win over Felician, Roddie had a huge game at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBI, all season highs. Gjerde and Dummer were each 2-for-5 with a run scored. McNeilly was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Junior first baseman Payton Gaber was 1-for-2 with a run scored and also reached on two walks. Weber was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Freshman Anna Lang picked up the first collegiate win of her career, going four innings and allowing three runs, two earned. She walked four. Berth picked up her first save of the season, pitching three scoreless innings.

Weber led off the second with a single and scored on McNeilly's double to tie the game at one. McNeilly later scored on an error. Roddie hit a solo homer in the third to make it 3-1.

MSUM broke the game open in the fourth. Sundeen walked and Gjerde followed with a single. Sundeen was out stealing at third and Dummer followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Roddie delivered her second homer of the day – a three-run shot – to push the Dragon lead to 6-1.

"Taylor played great clutch defense all day and her bat came alive in the second game, drilling two line-drive home runs to left field," Reckamp said.

Felician cut the lead to 7-3 but MSUM added an insurance run in the sixth when McNeilly's RBI single scored Gaber, who had walked to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to second by Johnson.

MSUM is off until Sunday when it plays the Czech Republic National Team at 2:45 p.m. and Assumption College at 5:30 p.m. (both times Central).

"We are starting to see what we can do offensively and defensively as we continue to get better at getting out of tough situations," Reckamp said. "The work ahead of us is still there but I'm proud of the grit and fight we showed today to get these wins. We are another day better and we will work to stay on a roll this week."