LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Minot State University fell in a pair of one-run games on day two of the Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger in nonconference NCAA Division II softball Saturday at Majestic Park.

The Beavers (1-3 overall) were upended 4-3 in game 1 by Northwest Nazarene and were edged 5-4 by Western Oregon in game 2.

"It was a tough day today in the sense that we came out on the wrong end of both games, but we played really well and had our changes in both," said MSU head coach Bill Triplett. "Our hitters had good at bats and both (Clarissa) Ramirez and (Jenn) Spencer were good in the circle."

In game 1 against Northwest Nazarene, MSU trailed the entire game, but kept making runs at the Crusaders. After falling behind 3-0, MSU cut it to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth. NNU scored one in the bottom of the fourth, but MSU again cut it to a one-run game with one in the sixth. The Beavers, however, couldn't get the equalizer.

Six different MSU players accounted for the six hits for the Beavers. Rachel Burdette and Tori Zimmermann both had doubles for their hits, Skyla Neubauer went 1 for 3 in the game with an RBI and Jordan Grant stole her first base of the season to pace the offense.

Ramirez finished with the loss in the circle, but pitched a solid game. She gave up 10 hits, four runs with four walks and two strikeouts in a complete game. The Beavers were clean in the field as well on the defensive end.

Against WOU, MSU again fell behind early as the Wolves scored twice to lead off the game. But the Beavers battled back to tie the game with single runs in the second and third innings and took a 3-2 lead with another single run in the third.

Western Oregon rallied for three in the fifth before Minot State added another single run in the sixth to get the eventual final.
Grant went 2 for 4 in the leadoff position for the Beavers and Isis Cabral hit her first home run of the season to go 1 for 1 in the game. Jordan Branch also had an RBI for the Beavers.

Spencer pitched the distance for MSU, giving up five runs on eight hits with four earned runs. She struck out four batters.

The Beavers will finish off the tournament with a big early-season test, taking on No. 2 ranked Humboldt State in MSU's 2017 Desert Stinger finale.

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.