ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Minot State University earned another come-from-behind win and then held on in game 2 to earn a pair of nonconference wins over Northern Sun foes Saturday at the St. Cloud State Husky Dome.
 
The Beavers (5-2) scored three runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 3-2 Concordia-St. Paul lead in game 1, winning 5-3. MSU gave up a pair of late runs, but shut down Minnesota Crookston in the seventh to hold on for a 5-4 win in game 2.
 
MSU starter Jenn Spencer (Jr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) was solid in game 1 to earn her first win. After shaking off some early wildness, she settled into a four hitter, giving up three earned runs over six innings. Spencer improved to 1-2 on the year with three strikeouts, three walks and four wild pitches.
 
"Jenn was a little shaky early with her control, but we stuck with her, stuck with her and then scored some big runs," Triplett said. "We played well. We didn't have any errors and it was a good way to start the game."
 
Alyssa Cornejo (Jr., P/UTL, Riverside, Calif.) worked a scoreless seventh to pick up her second save on the young season.
 
"P-Nut (Cornejo) came on and gave up a couple hits and had their best hitter at the plate, but got her to fly out to end the threat," said Triplett.
 
The Beavers put themselves and Cornejo into a save situation with three big runs in the top of the seventh. Sarah Nicks (Jr., C, Grossmont, Calif.) doubled in pinch runner Tylar Holland (Fr., CF, Clancy, Mont.) to tie the game at three and Clarissa Ramirez (Jr., P/UTL, Tucson, Ariz.) doubled home Nicks and Ashley Hill (So., 1B, Mesa, Ariz.) to give the Beavers the two-run lead.
 
"Sarah got an early RBI and then gave us a huge game-tying RBI in the seventh. She had a good day overall," Triplett said. "Ramirez followed Nick's hit with another big two-RBI double."
 
Nicks had two hits and Rachel Burdette (Jr., UTL, Temecula, Calif.) went 2 for 2 and scored a run. Cornejo also plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, cutting the Golden Bear lead to 3-2 and set up the final-inning heroics.
 
In game 2, MSU (5-2 overall) built leads of 3-0 and 5-2, but needed every bit of those five runs as UMC hit two solo home runs in the sixth to make it a game.
 
"It was one of those games where you win, but you don't feel good about it," Triplett said. "We threw to the wrong base a couple times, threw once when we shouldn't have and had an error at short and right. But, to fight through that and still win is a positive."
MSU took the 5-2 lead on a solo home run of its own as Hill ripped her second homer of the season.
 
"Hill absolutely crushed her home run which padded our lead and we ended up needing it," said Triplett.
 
Cornejo gave up just two runs and four hits in four innings of work to earn the win. Ramirez relieved her in the fifth and gave up just the two solo home runs to record her first save with the Beavers. In all, MSU pitchers gave up eight hits and two runs, while striking out four.
 
Jordan Grant (Jr., CF, Adelanto, Calif.) went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and a stolen base, while Burdette smacked two more hits for the Beavers. Nicks drove in two, while Hill and Burdette recorded an RBI each.
 
"Grant's speed really paid dividends today," Triplett said, "not only on offense but in centerfield too."
 
MSU will play two more Sunday at the Husky Dome, taking on Bemidji State at 11 a.m. and then UMC again at 1 p.m.
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.