Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CLERMONT, Fla. – It's becoming a broken record for Minot State University softball.

The Beavers got great pitching and timely hitting.

Not that head coach Bill Triplett would complain about the repetition.

Minot State starters gave up one run as the Beavers ran their overall record to 12-1 with a 3-1 win over the University of Bridgeport and a 7-0 shutout of Saint Leo University in nonconference NCAA Division II softball at the National Training Center Tournament Tuesday.

“We are playing very, very good softball right now. We're getting pitching, hitting and have been solid in the field so far,” Triplett said. “Saint Leo is a very, very good team and we were a little worried about that one. For us to go out and win 7-0 shows how well we are playing.”

The Beavers (12-1 overall, 0-0 NSIC) are off to their best start in school history and have done the majority of their damage against NCAA Division II opponents – in the program's second season as a DII member. Both of Tuesday's foes were NCAA Division II and Saint Leo came into the nightcap with 20 wins on the season (20-10 overall).

“We are trying to take each game as they come, but it is very important to play well in the DII games,” Triplett said. “Saint Leo has, I think, 20 or so wins on the season and has played some very good team tough this year.”

Senior pitcher Mandy Greenberg (Winnipeg, Manitoba) continued to dominate opposing batters as she pitched a complete-game three-hitter to earn her sixth win of the season against Saint Leo. She struck out 12 batters and gave up just four hits. She hasn't given up a run yet this season.

“Mandy is the type of player who gets fired up for the teams that are really good or teams we aren't supposed to beat,” Triplett said. “She was really dealing it tonight.”

Fellow senior Tiffany Friesen (P/3B, Morden, Manitoba) and junior Jen Dixon (OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba) provided a big part of the offense, using the extra base hit as their primary weapon.

Friesen crushed her team-leading fifth home run of the season – a three-run shot – to cap a five-run third inning. It came on the heels of a run scoring single by Dixon and a run producing sacrifice fly by Stacy Fournier (Jr., 3B, Langley, British Columbia).

“Dixon is just on a tear,” Triplett said. “Tiff is getting on it about every other at bat. She hit a big home run in the third.”

Dixon finished the game with three hits, running her season average to an outstanding .619 overall. She has 10 hits in 12 at bats in Florida. Freshman Brittany Thorson (P/SS, El Paso, Texas) added two hits, an RBI and a run scored in her third game back from a preseason injury.

In game 1 against Bridgeport (6-4 overall), triples were in abundance for the Beavers. MISU got two three-baggers from Ali Cygan (So., SS, Bozeman, Mont.) and another from Dixon to help in the win.

Dixon tripled home Taylor Studler (So., 1B, Grosse Isle, Manitoba) and Maribel Casillas (Sr., OF, Murrieta, Calif.) to stake the Beavers to a 2-0 lead in the third. After Bridgeport cut it to 2-1 with a run in the fourth, MISU got an insurance run as Cygan tripled and later scored on a passed ball.

For the tournament, the Beavers have six triples including four by Dixon.

Friesen and Greenberg combined for a five hitter with Friesen picking up her fifth win of the season. Greenberg worked the final 1 2/3 for her first save of the season. Greenberg picked up two more strikeouts in the short outing and have up just a single hit.

“They (Bridgeport) had a pitcher that threw a good change up and our hitters never really got to it,” Triplett said. “But our pitching has been so outstanding that the three runs held up.”
Katie Backes (Jr., UTL, Minot, N.D.), Casillas and Fournier all finished with a hit for the Beavers against UB.

The Beavers will have an early wake-up call after a long day that was pushed back due to rain delays. MISU takes on Saint Thomas Aquinas College at 9 a.m. (EDT) and finishes the day with a 1 p.m. (EDT) matchup with Queens College.