MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team rallied from a seven-run deficit beat St. Cloud State, 13-8 in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Saturday in St. Cloud. MSUM settled for a split on the day as the Huskies prevailed in the opener 8-0 in five innings.

Freshman shortstop Miah Hartvigsen had a big game in the second contest, going 3-for-3 with her first collegiate home run and three RBI. Senior third baseman Emma Dummer was 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and three RBI. Junior first baseman Samantha Gjerde was 1-for-4 with two RBI. Senior center fielder Elizabeth Johnson was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Junior left fielder Shay Weber had an RBI and scored two runs, while junior catcher Jordie McNeilly had a hit and an RBI.  Junior second baseman Kaiya Sundeen was 1-for-4 with two runs scored.

Freshman Reece Dahl started and pitched 5.1 innings, striking out one and walking eight. She allowed eight runs but only two were earned. Junior Anna Lang pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief to pick up her fourth win of 2021.

The game was tied 8-8 in the top of the seventh, and the Dragons' decisive five-run spurt started with two out. Junior designated hitter Ally Helgoe reached on an error, and was pinch ran for by sophomore Ashtyn Jurging. Hartvigsen picked a perfect time for her first collegiate homer, drilling a two-run blast to make it 10-8.

"Miah had a breakout game coming through in a big moment," Reckamp said. "Her at-bats earlier in the game were productive and you knew something big was due. She's been on the verge of that at times all season."

Sundeen and Johnson followed with singles, and Weber walked to load the bases. Dummer walked to force in a run, and Gjerde delivered a big two-out hit, a single, to score two runs and push the lead to 13-8.

"It was big to see us composed late after being in a hole for most of that game," Reckamp said. "We came up with hit after hit, forcing them to make plays in what turned into a big comeback. It was awesome to see us pile on when we needed it."

SCSU put the first two runners on in the seventh, but Lang got the final three outs to finish off the win.

"Anna coming in to close us out was a big time driver to finishing that game on top," Reckamp said. "She settled us down defensively. She is someone that finds a way to battle and she did that for us today."

MSUM was down 8-1 going into the top of the fifth when the rally started. Weber's RBI squeeze bunt scored a run, and Dummer followed with a double to score Johnson, who had singled. 

McNeilly and Smith followed with back-to-back RBI singles, and with two out, Hartvigsen ripped an RBI single to cut the lead to 8-6. MSUM's final two runs of the innings scored on an error. Errors were costly for SCSU — the Huskies committed four which led to seven unearned runs.

In the opener, Lang took the loss for MSUM, giving up eight earned runs in four innings. She struck out three and walked one. 

Sundeen was 2-for-2 for MSUM while Dummer added a hit.

MSUM wraps up the 2021 season on Sunday at Minnesota Duluth. The doubleheader begins at noon.