BOX SCORE: Game 1 | Game 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University ended its seven-game losing skid with a 5-2 win over Concordia-St. Paul in game two after falling 2-1 in game one of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader played on Tuesday. The doubleheader, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was moved up a day to prevent the rainy Wednesday forecasts. 

Game 1 | CU 2-1
Concordia-St. Paul held on for a 2-1 victory over SMSU in game one. SMSU trailed 2-0 in the top of the sixth and crossed one run in the inning to close the gap, but Kaley Scearcy was thrown out at the plate trying to tag up on a fly-out to right to end the threat.
 
SMSU finished with six hits in the game with Chelsey Rodenkirch and Scearcy picking up two each. Jazmyne Neely delivered an RBI single in the sixth to give SMSU runners on first and third with one out.
 
CU scored its two runs – both unearned – following an error by Scearcy at third in the third inning. The Golden Bears took advantage by stringing three straight singles together followed by an RBI fielder's choice to make it 2-0.
 
SMSU couldn't get the runs back and Rachel Hoeppner (7-13) suffered the loss. Hoeppner was sharp in the losing effort though, as she tossed six complete innings and allowed just five hits and struck  out five.
 
Game 2 | SMSU 5-2
Alex O'Connor took the ball for the Mustangs in game two and she struggled with her command early in the first frame. O'Connor allowed two runs in the first inning on just one hit, but walked four, including a walk with the bases loaded.
 
After the rough first inning, O'Connor settled in and shut down the Golden Bears and issued just one walk the rest of the way.
 
SMSU was sparked by great leadoff hitting as the Mustangs put the leadoff batter on base in six of the seven innings. The leadoff runners led to runs in the fourth and fifth innings. SMSU took its first lead of the doubleheader with three runs in the fourth. Neely led off the inning with a single and Kailey Hanson followed with an infield single to third base.  Jennifer Johnson laid down a sac bunt but reached on a throwing error while Neely scored from second to make it 2-1. Karmann Carroll came up with an RBI single to center in SMSU's next plate appearance to tie the game at two. Emily Olson's RBI fielder's choice a batter later gave SMSU the 3-2 lead.
 
SMSU padded its lead in the fifth inning with two more runs. This time it was Scearcy who led off the inning with a single and Neely followed suit to bump CU's starting pitcher Linzy Heim from the circle.  A wild pitch by relief pitcher Sarah Kappes moved runners to second and third with one out for Jennifer Johnson who hit a groundball to the shortstop who committed a fielding error that allowed both Scearcy and Neely to score.
 
Scearcy, Neely, Hanson and Katelyn Kalkmann each recorded multi-hit games for the Mustangs.  As a unit, SMSU recorded 11 hits in the game, but also left 10 runners on base.
 
O'Connor picked up her fifth win of the season as she tossed all seven innings to improve her record to 5-16. She worked seven complete, walked five, struck out three, allowed just four hits and two earned runs en route to the win.
 
The win snapped SMSU's seven-game losing streak dating back to April 15. SMSU (12-29-1, 9-16-1 NSIC) will look to keep the wins coming with the final pair of regular season doubleheaders penciled for this weekend on the road starting Saturday vs. MSU Moorhead.