TUCSON, Ariz. –  Southwest Minnesota State closed out its eight-game trip to Arizona on Friday with a 5-3 victory over Dordt College (Iowa) in Tucson, Ariz. 

SMSU finished the trip 2-6 and improved to 5-9-1 overall, while Dordt drops to 2-5 on the season.

The Mustangs finished the game with 12 hits, with Kyle Young leading the way with three hits, while Nick Tillo and Jarred Carlson both added two hits and an RBI each.

Six SMSU pitchers combined to allow just six hits, while recording a season-high 11 strikeouts.  Ryan Ecalbarger (1-0) picked up the victory, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, while Alex Alvarez tossed a scoreless ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.

SMSU opened the game's scoring in the second inning with Brian Ness scoring on a ground ball double play.

Dordt tied the game with a run in the third, but SMSU regained the lead in the fourth inning as Carlson delivered an RBI single to score Tillo. 

SMSU added to the lead in the fifth as Jason Minnet singled, stole second and came around to score on a run-scoring double by Tillo.

The Defenders tied the game in the sixth with a pair of runs off of SMSU reliever Maris Blanchard, but again SMSU had an answer to regain the lead in the home half of the sixth taking advantage of two Dordt errors.  Carlson and Elliott Serbus singled to put runners on first and third with one out, before Carlson scored on a throwing error by the Dordt catcher to make the score 4-3.  Serbus would later score on another Dordt throwing error to give SMSU a 5-3 lead.

Ecalbarger and Eric Giddings combined to allow just one base runner in the seventh and eighth innings, before giving way to Alvarez in the ninth to seal the win.

Southwest Minnesota State returns to action next weekend to open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with a four-game series at Wayne State on March 23-24.