MANKATO, Minn. – Minot State University's rally fell short in game 1 and the Beavers dropped a pair of games to Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball Saturday.

Minot State (13-26 overall, 2-19 NSIC) rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to cut the Maverick's lead nearly in half, but fell 7-3 in game 1. Minnesota State (33-12, 16-5) finished off the sweep with an 8-0 six inning game in the second.

"We ran into a pretty good team today and we came up short," said MSU head coach Bill Triplett. "We put together a couple good rallies and had the tying run at the plate in the seventh in game 1, but didn't get it done."

The Beavers plated three in the sixth as Clarissa Ramirez (Jr., P/UTL, Tucson, Ariz.) singled in Lauren Cowden (Fr., UTL, Moorpark, Calif.) and then scored, along with Rachel Burdette (Jr., UTL, Temecula, Calif.), on Isis Cabral's (Fr., OF, Oxnard, Calif.) single to cut the lead to 7-3. The Beavers stranded three runners on in the seventh, loading the bases with just one out, but couldn't push across another run.

Ramirez suffered the loss in both games as she went the distance in both as Triplett juggled his staff due to nagging injuries within his pitchers.

"Our defense didn't back a good pitching performance by Ramirez. She was good today," he said. "Ramirez really helped out staff out by going the distance in both. We hope that Spencer (Jenn Spencer, Jr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Cornejo (Alyssa Cornejo, Jr., P/UTL, Riverside, Calif.) can toss a couple good ones for us tomorrow."

Jordan Grant (Jr., CF, Adelanto, Calif.) finished with two hits and a stolen base. Burdette, Cowden and Kyla Larson (So., OF, Wahiawa, Hawaii) all smacked doubles for the Beavers.

In game 2, Grant reached base on a bunt single and stole second, but that was all the Beavers could muster against Mavericks' starter Libby Bemis. She finished with a one hitter over six innings with four strikeouts.

The Beavers travel to St. Paul, Minn., for a pair of NSIC games with Concordia-St. Paul 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.