MINOT, N.D. -- Junior
Lauren Cowden drove in four runs and Minot State opened the home portion of its 2018 schedule with wins over Mayville State and Dickinson State on Saturday in the Air-Supported Dome at Herb Parker Stadium. The Beavers defeated the Comets 8-7 and then beat Dickinson State 10-2 to cap the day.
Kyla Larson and
Haley Hernandez each had four hits and drove in a pair of runs, while
Camille Greene,
Julia Suchan and
Tori Zimmermann recorded three hits apiece.
Ashley Hill,
Isis Cabral and Cowden picked up two hits each in the two games combined.
Hernandez gave the Beavers an 8-7 win against Mayville State by hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Cabral singled up the middle to start the game-winning rally and advanced to second when Larson singled to right.
The Beavers loaded the bases with Greene singled to left and Hernandez followed with her game-winning hit giving the Beavers their third straight victory overall.
Minot State, which improved to 5-2 on the season, fell behind 2-0 but answered with a seven-run inning in the bottom of the third inning.
Suchan tripled to left and Zimmermann reached on an error as the Beavers cut the lead to 2-1 with one out. Hill followed with a single to left that scored pinch-runner
Sami Jo Henry with the tying run of the game.
The Beavers loaded the bases and took the lead when the Comets dropped a throw to the plate which allowed
Melissa Estrada to score from third base.
Minot State increased the lead to 4-2 when Hernandez reached on another Comet error, which brought home Cabral. The final two runs of the inning came when Cowden tripled to center to score Hernandez and Greene giving the Beavers a 7-2 lead.
Mayville State scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning, a single run in the sixth inning and tied the game with two runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Kylie Patrick earned the victory for the Beavers as she pitched the final 3.2 innings and allowed two earned runs and struck out one hitter.
Minot State used another seven-run inning, this one came in the bottom of the second inning, to coast to the win against Dickinson State. The Beavers banged out 13 hits against the Blue Hawks as Suchan, Zimmermann, Larson, Hernandez and Greene all had two base hits.
After scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning, the Beavers tacked on seven more in the bottom of the second inning to blow the game open.
Hill had two RBIs, while Cowden, Suchan, Zimmermann and Larson each had an RBI in the second inning for the Beavers.
The Beavers won the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Larson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Estrada with the winning run.
Laura Mendez picked up the win on the mound for Minot State as she worked 4.0 innings and permitted just two earned runs.
Minot State will return to action on Sunday (Feb. 11) when it faces the same two teams in the Air-Supported Dome. The Beavers will face Dickinson State at 10 a.m. and then meet Mayville State at 2 p.m.
