Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WINONA, Minn. – Minot State University softball ran into a wall in the form of Winona State pitching.

The Warriors starters Britt Stewart and Ashley Walker  and reliever Michelle Lund limited Minot State to just two runs and 11 hits in a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games.

In the end, the Beavers suffered their first sweep of the season and its first losing streak as they have dropped three straight, losing 4-0 and 4-2 at Winona State at Alumni Field Sunday.

“We ran into two good pitchers and didn't make enough adjustments to win these two games,” said MISU head coach Bill Triplett. “We started to get things going in game 2, but it was too little too late. We just didn't seem to get that key hit we have been getting all year.”

The losses leave Minot State at 26-5 overall and 8-4 in the NSIC, while Winona State improved to 22-6 and 7-1 in the Northern Sun.

Minot State starters Mandy Greenberg (Sr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Tiffany Friesen (Sr., P/3B, Morden, Manitoba) nearly matched the WSU pitchers with strong overall games. Greenberg was the game 1 loser, dropping to 14-2 on the season, as she went six innings, giving up six hits, four runs (three earned) while striking out nine. Friesen went 5 1/3 innings in game 2, giving up three hits and two runs.

“We pitched well enough to win, but kind of like the offensive side, we just couldn't get a big out in a couple of their innings,” Triplett said.

In game 1, Stewart was the difference, pitching a complete game three-hitter. She only struck out four MISU batters, but didn't allow the Beavers to game much traction on offense. Ali Cygan (So., SS, Bozeman, Mont.) was the only MISU hitter to have any success against her, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Stewart shut down the Beavers solid 3-4-5 hitting trio of Jen Dixon (Jr., OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba), Friesen and Stacy Fournier (Jr., 3B, Langley, British Columbia) to a combined 0-for-8.

Minot had a runner in scoring position in the first, second and fifth innings, but couldn't scratch across a run. Meanwhile, WSU scored an unearned run in the first inning after a misplayed third strike allowed the inning to continue, got an RBI single in the fifth by Morgan Lintz and a two-run home run by Jessica Kullmann in the sixth.

After 13 innings of shutout ball, Minot State made things interesting in the top of the seventh scoring two runs and leaving the game-tying run on to end the inning. Katie Backes (Jr., UTL, Minot, N.D.) and Cygan finished with RBIs in the inning. MISU left six runners on base in game 2.

“We definitely didn't give up and made a run at it in the seventh,” Triplett said. “I was happy to see that aspect of the game. We got ourselves into the game by loading the bases with the top of the order coming up.”

Melissa Bell (So., C, Belgrade, Mont.), Backes and Fournier all finished with two hits and Cygan, Fournier and Backes drove in runs.
The Warriors didn't have a player with two hits in the game, but got two RBIs each from Kaitlin Hardie and Jenny Nelson.

Minot State will look to turn things around with a pair of NSIC games at Northern State Wednesday at 2/4 p.m.

– GO BEAVERS –