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ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Southwest Minnesota State snapped a six-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over Northwestern College (Iowa) in game one of a doubleheader on Monday, but the Red Raiders came back to pick up an 8-4 victory in game two to earn the split.
 
The games were the final tune-up for SMSU before opening Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this Friday and Saturday with a four-game home series versus Northern State at Alumni Field.
 
In the opener, Northwestern (8-11) opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first, before SMSU (2-13) pushed across five runs in the third, taking advantage of a Red Raider fielding error.
 
Jake Schultz opened the frame with a walk and moved to third on a one-out single by Jayden Fleck. Cole VanderBeek brought home Schultz with a sac fly and was followed by a walk to Derek Branson. Tanner Picht then hit a fly ball that was dropped by the left fielder to score a pair of runs and make the score 3-1. Jon Leighton came through with an RBI double to score Picht and moments later Shane Sellner delivered a run-scoring single to push the lead to 5-1.
 
The Red Raiders cut the lead to 5-4 in the fourth on a two-out RBI single and a two-run home run.
 
NWC threatened in both the fifth and sixth innings, but left runners at third base in each frame.
 
The Mustangs put the game away with a big top of the seventh inning scoring three runs on three hits. Leighton gave SMSU a 7-4 lead with a two-out, two-run double, before Sellner made it 8-4 with a single to right-center field.
 
Cole Petersen (2-1), making his first career start, picked up the victory for the Mustangs. The left-hander tossed four innings, allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Alex Jorgensen, Connor Johnson and Jon Leighton each tossed one inning of shutout relief to seal the win.
 
SMSU finished with eight hits in the opener with Fleck finishing 2 for 2, Leighton was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Sellner was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
 
In the night cap, NWC pushed across three runs off of SMSU starter Davis Bryan in the home half of the second.
 
SMSU countered with single runs in both the third and fourth innings. Michael Marchese singled to start a Mustang rally in the third and later scored on a fielding error. SMSU added another run in the fourth as Leighton led off with a single and scored on an infield single by Kyle Graves.
 
The Red Raiders responded with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings and a single run in the sixth to make the score 8-2.
 
SMSU closed the gap in the top of the seventh as Picht belted a two-run home run over the center field fence. It was his team-leading fourth round-tripper of the season.
 
The Mustangs finished game two with eight hits as Leighton, Picht and Graves collected two hits apiece.  
 
Bryan (0-3) finished the game allowing six runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in four innings of work.
 
SMSU and Northern State will begin play on Friday starting at 1:30 p.m.