CROOKSTON, Minn. – Minot State University smacked 13 hits and Clarissa Ramirez (Jr., P/UTL, Tucson, Ariz.) tossed a five-hitter as MSU earned its first Northern Sun Intercollege Conference win, topping Minnesota Crookston 8-0 in game 2 Tuesday at the UMC Softball Field.

The Beavers win in game 2 snapped a five-game losing streak that included a tough-luck 3-2 loss in game 1 after a wild pitch brought in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"Anytime you drop the first game of a doubleheader, you're happy with a split," said MSU head coach Bill Triplett. "If you win the first one, you're not. We played well enough to win the first one, we just didn't get the big hits when we had our chances. It was nice to get back in the win column (in game 2)."

The Beavers (12-12 overall, 1-5 NSIC) pounded out 13 hits in game 2 and scored runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings before the game was halted in the fifth due to the 8-run rule. MSU's Jordan Grant (Jr., CF, Adelanto, Calif.) and Ramirez finished with three hits apiece to help Ramirez earn her third win of the season.

Ramirez was especially efficient in the circle for the Beavers as she finished with seven strikeouts and no walks. She allowed five total hits and didn't allow any one Crookston player to get more than a single.

"Reece (Ramirez) pitched a good game and we scored first and kept adding on," Triplett said. "She also had a couple big hits for us."

The top of the order was especially strong for MSU in game 2 as Nos. 1-5 combined to go 10 for 18 with four runs scored and six driven in. Along with Ramirez and Grant, Kyla Larson (So., OF, Wahiawa, Hawaii) – the No. 5 hitter – went 2 for 3 and Rachel Burdette (Jr., UTL, Temecula, Calif.) – the Beavers No. 3 hitter – knocked in two, smacking her fourth home run in five games.

"Rachel continued her hot hitting," Triplett said.

MSU did just about everything to win game 1 as the Beavers outhit UMC 10-8 and did not commit an error, but came up a run short as UMC scored the game winner on a wild pitch in the eighth.

The Beavers tied the game at one in the sixth as Isis Cabral (Fr., OF, Oxnard, Calif.) drove in a run and forced extra innings in the seventh as Ashley Hill (So., 1B, Mesa, Ariz.) drove in a run.

But the Golden Eagles (7-19, 1-5) got the leadoff on as Jozie Garner singled – on of three hits in the game for Garner – and scored on a wild pitch later in the inning as Jenn Spencer (Jr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) suffered the tough luck loss despite allowing just eight hits in just under eight innings.

"Jenn pitched a good game, we just couldn't come up with a big hit when we needed it," Triplett said.

Hill and Alyssa Cornejo (Jr., P/UTL, Riverside, Calif.) each finished with two hits for the Beavers. Spencer gave up three runs on eight hits and struck out two batters in 7 1/3 innings to fall to 3-7 on the season.

MSU continues on the road this weekend, traveling to Southwest Minnesota State Saturday and the University of Sioux Falls Sunday.

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.