CROOKSTON, Minn. — Led by big days at the plate from freshman catcher Jordie McNeilly, sophomore Ashley McCance and junior Payton Gaber, the Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team's offense exploded in a sweep of Minnesota Crookston on Friday in Crookston, Minn. MSUM won 7-3  in the opener and took the second game 14-5 in six innings for their first NSIC sweep of the season.

MSUM is now 10-17 overall and 4-6 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while UMC fell to 12-22 overall and 1-9 in the league.

McNeilly finished the day 5-of-7 with a homer and six RBI. McCance finished the day 6-of-8 with two doubles and five RBI.  Gaber finished 6-of-9 on the day with two RBI and three doubles.  Combined, the three went 17-of-24 (.708) with a homer, five doubles and 13 RBI.

MSUM belted out 34 hits and scored 21 runs on the day.

"They were two good team wins today," MSUM head coach Amanda Reckamp said. "A lot of people stepped up. It was good to see our offense jump ahead early and cruise to a sweep."

In the Game 1 win, McNeilly was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a career-high six RBI. The three-run blast game in the second inning to give MSUM a 3-0 lead.
 
Sophomore center fielder Elizabeth Johnson was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored while  McCance, who was playing at first base, was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Gaber, who served as the designated hitter,and freshman second baseman Kaiya Sundeen were each 2-for-4 with a double while senior shortstop Taylor Roddie added a 2-for-5 game. Sophomore pitcher Becky Berth was 1-for-1 while freshman outfielder Shay Weber had an RBI.
 
Berth picked up her seventh win of 2019, giving up just two earned runs in seven innings. She struck out three and walked three.
 
UMC cut the lead to 3-1 in the second but a sacrifice fly by Weber scored McCance in the third to make it 4-1. The Golden Eagles climbed to within 4-3 thanks to an unearned run in the fourth, but the Dragons answered. McNeilly had a two-run single in the fifth and added an RBI single in the seventh to cap off a huge game.

"Jordie McNeilly had a big day at the plate. She helped pace our offense in the first game," Reckamp said.

Game 2 saw even more Dragon offense. McCance was 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI while Gaber was 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. McNeilly and Weber each went 2-for-3 with two runs scored with Weber adding an RBI.  Roddie was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI while junior third baseman Emma Dummer was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI. Freshman outfielder Jordey Smith was 1-for-3 with two RBI with Sundeen and Johnson added hits.  MSUM finished with 19 hits on the day.

Freshman Anna Lang picked up the win for the Dragons, giving up five earned runs in there innings. Berth pitched three scoreless innings of relief to seal the win.

McCance hit an RBI single to score Roddie to give MSUM a 1-0 lead in the first. UMC tied the game at 1-1.  The Dragons scored four times in the second, keyed by an RBI double from Dummer and RBI singles for Roddie and McCance and a pair of UMC errors.

Smith and McCance hit each 2-run doubles in the third while Weber hit an RBI double and Gaber an RBI single to push the lead to 11-1.

Dummer hit a sac fly in the fourth for another run while Gaber and McCance each added an RBI double in the sixth to put the game away.

MSUM is at Bemidji State for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Dragons' home opener is Wednesday, April 10 vs. St. Cloud State.