Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University's Ali Cygan (So., SS, Bozeman, Mont.) helped the Beavers breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Cygan hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Minot State to a 3-2 win and a series sweep over Minnesota Crookston in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball Thursday at Herb Parker Stadium.

“We thought we had the two-run homer a couple innings earlier, but they got to that one,” said MISU head coach Bill Triplett. “They didn't get to Ali's. It was a huge hit to say the least. We understand there isn't much margin of error left as we play this final week of conference play.”

The pair of wins lifts the Beavers to 33-6 overall and 15-5 in NSIC play. Minot State came into the week as the No. 7 ranked team in the NCAA Division II Central Region rankings with just six scheduled games to finish its first regular season in the Northern Sun.

“Every game is crucial at this point,” Triplett said. “Give a lot of credit to Crookston, they played a great game, but we knew that a big part of our season was riding on getting those two runs one way or the other.”

The long ball played a pivotal role for both teams in both games. UMC earned a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Shelby Hollinger in game 2, Cygan's walk off home run and a huge catch by UMC's leftfielder Hilary Brown crashing through the left field fence to rob MISU's Taylor Studler (So., 1B, Grosse Isle, Manitoba) were the major story lines in game 2. In game 1, it was a pair of HRs by Beavers senior Tiffany Friesen (P/3B, Morden, Manitoba) and Katie Backes' (Jr., UTL, Minot, N.D) solo shot that proved to be the difference.

Studler looked to give Minot State a 3-1 lead in the fourth as she hammered a pitch to left field with Emily Fournier (Jr., INF, Langley, British Columbia) on third. But Brown robbed Studler and then the Eagles appealed the play at third, doubling off Fournier who was called for leaving early.

In the top of the fifth, UMC (2-35, 1-25) pinch hitter Kaylin Beatty singled home Kendra Pahl for a 2-1 Golden Eagle lead.

“That could have been one of those sequences where you don't recover,” Triplett said. “And, it did affect us for a couple innings before we responded.”

Studler was a part of the final inning as well as she led off with a single up the middle in front of the Cygan walk off.

Minot State's Mandy Greenberg (Sr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) earned one of her shortest wins of the season, going two-thirds of an inning with a strikeout in relief of Friesen in the top of the seventh. Friesen was solid, giving up three hits and two runs in 6 1/3, striking out seven. Paige Schaust suffered a tough-luck loss for UMC, giving up just three runs and seven hits.

Friesen swatted her 13th and 14th home runs of the season, a three-run bomb in the bottom of the first and then a grand slam in the fourth for a total of seven RBIs in the game. She now has 58 on the year.

“Tiff got into both of them. She has become a very dangerous home run threat since coming to Minot State,” Triplett said. “She has always had power, but she has really learned to hit and it showing this year with 14 home runs.”

Backes started the fourth with a solo home run and Jen Dixon (Jr., OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba) added an RBI single for a six-run fourth. Stacy Fournier (Jr., INF, Langley, British Columbia) joined Friesen and Cygan with multiple hits in the game.

It was plenty for Dixon who pitched an eight-hitter for her third win of the season. She went 5 innings, giving up two runs, one earned run and striking out six.

Minot State will finish the regular season with a pair of key series on the road. MISU heads to Wayne State College Saturday and finishes its first year in the league with Augustana College Sunday. The NSIC tournament begins Thursday in Rochester, Minn.