Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University softball's offense never really looked to get into full swing Wednesday afternoon.

And yet, the Beavers scored 17 runs.

Timely hitting and wild Bemidji State pitching helped produce a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wins for MISU, taking down BSU 9-1 (6) and 8-1 on the FieldTurf at Herb Parker Stadium.

“We did a good job of getting some key hits, but overall, we didn't have a ton of hits,” said MISU head coach Bill Triplett. “I thought Stacy (Stacy Fournier, Jr., 3B, Langley, British Columbia) had a great day for us. It was nice to see here get going.”

Fournier was the hitting star for the MISU Beavers (25-2 overall, 7-1 NSIC) as she went 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and five RBIs. Her three-run opposite field home run in game 1 gave Minot State a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

“She struggled with the bat a little over the weekend and teams have begun to pitch around Tiff (Tiffany Friesen, Sr., 3B/P, Morden, Manitoba),” Triplett said. “Stacy is capable of really making teams pay for that. She has a great swing and has been one of our leaders on offense since she got her. Having her hit the way she did today, makes our lineup awfully difficult.”

The four runs for Minot State in the first was more than enough for the pitching staff as senior Mandy Greenberg (Winnipeg, Manitoba) cruised to her 13th win of the season. Greenberg pitched three innings, striking out eight batters, while not giving up a run, hit or walk.

Bemidji State (7-18, 1-7) scored its only run on a fourth inning home run by Nicole Dupay off of relief pitcher Jen Dixon (Jr., OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba).

Minot State only had five hits in the game, but was bolstered by 15 BSU walks, including four worked by MISU's Brittany Thorson (Fr., P/SS, El Paso, Texas). Dixon went 2-for-3 at the plate and had three RBIs, while Melissa Bell (So., C, Belgrade, Mont.) went 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

In game 2, Minot's started Tiffany Friesen settled down after giving up a first-inning unearned run to go six strong innings, giving up just three hits and striking out seven to go to 10-1 on the season.

“Tiff has really been steady on the mound for us,” Triplett said. “She has to be considered one of the best No. 2 pitchers in the league. She's second only to Greenberg in ERA and her strikeout to walk ratio is lights out.”

Friesen was helped by a big three-run home run by Katie Backes (Jr., UTL, Minot, N.D.) in the fifth inning, opening up a cushion for Minot State. The Beavers led 3-1 before Backes hammered her third homer of the season over the right-center fence.

Backes, Fournier and Maribel Casillas (Sr., OF, Murrieta, Calif.) all collected multi-hit games. Fournier drove in two, Friesen added another RBI and eight different Beavers scored.

Minot State will look to continue its winning conference ways with a pair of NSIC double headers this weekend, traveling to Upper Iowa Saturday and Winona State Sunday.