ABERDEEN, S.D.- Southwest Minnesota State put the finishing touches on a perfect start to the 2017 season with another pair of wins on Sunday to close out the Presentation College Dome Tournament. SMSU defeated Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), 8-0 and followed up with an 8-6 win over Jamestown (N.D.) to close out the weekend.
DWU Box Score
SMSU vs. DWU- Southwest Minnesota State continued its strong start to the season with an 8-0 win over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) which was stopped after SMSU reached the eight run rule in six innings on Sunday morning to start day two of the Presentation College Dome Tournament.
Alex O'Connor grabbed her second win of the season and a complete game shutout from the circle, giving up just one hit in five innings.
Taylor Koloc,
Victoria Brooks, and
Kali Tomlinson each went 2-for-3 during the game.
Koloc led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and later stole second base to move into scoring position. After advancing to third, Koloc stole home to score the game's first run as Brooks was attempting to steal second.
The Mustangs then scored four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to extend its lead to 5-0. Tomlinson led off the third with a solo home run on a 2-2 count to push the lead to 6-0. Following a scoreless fourth, SMSU pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fifth to end the game on the eight run rule.
UJ Box Score
SMSU vs. UJ- Taylor Koloc went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases as Southwest Minnesota State capped off its perfect weekend with an 8-6 win over Jamestown (N.D.) in what was a back and forth contest on Sunday afternoon.
Koloc had three RBI while
Abbie Decker went a perfect 3-for-3 from the dish with 3 RBI as well. After Jamestown pushed one across to lead off the game, Koloc singled and stole second and third before tying the game up at 1-1 off of a wild pitch. SMSU produced two runs in the second and one in the third to go ahead 4-1.
Following a scoreless fourth inning, Jamestown regained the lead with five runs in the top of the fifth.
With a runner on third and the Mustangs still trailing 5-4,
Taylor Koloc hit her first home run of the year to put SMSU back in front. A lead off triple in the top half of the sixth led to a game-tying run for Jamestown but SMSU responded quickly.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Decker singled to center to score
Karmann Carroll from third. Decker would later come around to score off of a second two out hit, this one off the bat of
Taylor Koloc.
Alex O'Connor was credited with a save after striking out two in relief duty to put the game away in the seventh inning.
SMSU (4-0) is off to the program's best start since beginning the 2012 season 4-0.
SMSU will have another three weeks to prepare for its annual spring trip to Fla., where they will play a total of 10 non-conference games. The Mustangs' next game will be Mar. 5, when they take on Saint Joseph's College (Ind.) at 5 p.m.
