MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University softball looked poised to bounce back.

Heading into the seventh in game 2, MSU had shrugged off a poor performance in game 1 and led Winona State 6-4.

But the Warriors used an all-too-familiar foe – the long ball – to rally as WSU scored nine in the seventh to finish with a 13-6 win and a sweep of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference double header Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.

"Syd (MSU relief pitcher Sydney Prigge, So., Tacoma, Wash.) gave us all she had. They just got to her and our staff in the seventh," MSU head coach Bill Triplett said. "When the No. 9 hitter got on, we knew Karsten (WSU leadoff hitter Reed Karsten) is one of the top hitters in the league and she went yard to tie it.

"We need to get heathier. I'm not going to pitch those girls when they are hurting. I thought we might be able to dodge a bullet there and get through it. But we also need to stop using injuries as an excuse. It's the next one up, we will need to have the next person stand up."

The Warriors (26-10, 8-5) finished with six home runs in game 2 and nine on the day. Karsten hit two in the seventh inning and went 3 for 5 with six RBIs in game 2.

The Beavers (12-20, 1-13) countered the barrage of HRs by WSU with a key homer of their own. Alyssa Cornejo (Jr., P/UTL, Riverside, Calif.) staked the Beavers to the 6-4 lead with a two-run dinger in the fifth.

At that point, the game had gone back and forth as MSU led 1-0 after the first, tripled 3-1 after 2, tied it at 3 in the third and tied it at four in the fourth.

"We are battling out there," Triplett said. "It's not fun, we hate it down here in the standing and losing games, but we are sticking together as a team and we are getting better. We will need to keep battling and if we do that, we can get a couple wins and start to move on."

Prigge suffered her first loss of the season in relief of starter Jenn Spencer (Jr., P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) who pitched four innings. Prigge went two scoreless innings before giving up five in the seventh. McKenna Larsen picked up the win in relief for WSU.

Cornejo went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Jordan Grant (Jr., CF, Adelanto, Calif.) was 4 for 4 with an RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base, while Clarissa Ramirez (Jr., P/UTL, Tucson, Ariz.) was 2 for 3 for MSU.

Things weren't so dramatic in the first game as WSU opened a 5-0 lead in the first and led 7-0 after three before ending the game 11-0 in the sixth. Hanna Lythberg was tough on the Beavers, allowing just five hits and no runs to move to 14-4.

Grant was 2 for 3 with a stolen base for MSU in the loss.

The Beavers will be back at Herb Parker Stadium Sunday for two more, taking on Upper Iowa at 1 and 3 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.