ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Minot State University's Ali Cygan (Sr., SS, Bozeman, Mont.) drove in a run in the top of the 10th inning and pitcher Alyssa Cornejo (So., Riverside, Calif.) made it hold up by fanning the side in the bottom of the inning as MSU won game 2 6-5 over St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball Saturday at Selke Field. 

The Beavers (32-19 overall, 13-15 NSIC) lost game 1 3-2 to finish with the split against the Huskies (27-25, 13-15) and remain in a tie with SCSU for 11th place heading into the final double header of the regular season. MSU and SCSU trail the University of Mary by a half a game for the 10th and final playoff spot. Both teams are a game back of Southwest Minnesota State and two behind the University of Sioux Falls and Minnesota Duluth with two to play.
 
Minot State plays at UMD Sunday in a showdown for the playoffs. The tiebreaker scenarios in the NSIC go from win-loss record in conference play, to head-to-head competition, to record versus common conference opponents in descending order, runs allowed per game in conference games and finally a coin flip. Two wins by the Beavers over Duluth and MSU would tie the Bulldogs, but move ahead of them due to the second tiebreaker.
 
"Game 1 was a tough loss. It's really too bad because there were some things that happened during the game that was out of our control," said MSU head coach Bill Triplett. "We battled hard and came back in game 2, we didn't get down and let game 1 bother us. A lot of teams could have folded, but we didn't. We are still in it with two to play."
 
The Beavers led 3-2 and 4-2 for much of game 2 until SCSU tied the score at four in the fifth. Cornejo, who moved to 9-4 with the win, got MSU out of a two-on, no outs jam in the eighth as she relieved starter Mindy Lorimor (Sr., P, Thurman, Iowa), who worked seven innings. Cornejo gave up just one run on two hits in three innings while striking out six.
 
The Beavers nearly had the game won in the ninth as Vanessa Christiuk (Jr., 3B, Dufrost, Manitoba) reached on a fielder's choice, driving in Rachel Burdette (So., Temecula, Calif.) to give MSU a 5-4 lead.
 
SCSU countered with a run-scoring double by Taylor Thomas to send it to the 10th.
 
Minot State manufactured the winning run as Jordan Grant (So., CF, Adelnato, Calif.) singled, stole second, moved up on a grounder by Melissa Bell (Sr., UTL, Belgrade, Mont.) and scored on Cygan's single. Cornejo then struck out all three batter she faced in the bottom of the 10th to finish off the win.
 
The Beavers built the 4-2 lead with multiple home runs. Bell belted a two-run home run in the first inning and Ashley Hill (Fr., 1B, Mesa, Ariz.) hit her 11th HR of the season, a solo shot, in the bottom of the first. Cornejo also hit a solo home run in the third.
 
"Ashley had a good day again," Triplett said. "She left the yard twice and had a couple other big at bats. But it was a total team effort in game 2. We were out of players in the last two innings but we made it through. Cornejo came up big in relief."
 
Jessica Goerger was 3 for 4 with two RBIs to pace SCSU, while Thomas went 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Megan Hedstrom worked four innings in relief, giving up just one earned run, but suffered the loss to drop to 9-8.
 
Grant, Hill and Sarah Nicks (So., C, Grossmont, Calif.) all collected two hits in the win for MSU. Grant scored two runs and stole a base, while Cygan stole two bases for the Beavers.
 
In game 1, the Beavers tied the game in the fourth on a pair of solo home runs, the first by Hill and the second by Burdette.
 
The tie game was short lived as Goerger hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to give the game its final score.
 
Lorimor, who pitched 14 innings on the day, gave up just nine hits and three runs, but fell to 21-14 on the season. Kelly Franks was solid in the circle for SCSU as she ran her record to 13-5 with a complete game, six-hitter, allowing just two runs while striking out seven.
 
Alyssa Coletto and Tricia DeBoer both finished with two hits to pace SCSU in the win.
 
Bell was the only player for the Beavers with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 in the game. Cygan, Hill, Burdette and Nicks all finished with one hit with Cygan stealing another base.
 
The Beavers and Bulldogs are set to finish the regular season Sunday starting at 1 p.m. in Duluth, Minn.