Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State softball team secured a spot in the upcoming Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament defeating Minnesota Crookston, 9-6 and 3-2 in nine innings, at the UMC Softball Field on Sunday.
 
SMSU needed to win both games on Sunday and also needed Wayne State and U-Mary to both lose at least once on Sunday. WSC and U-Mary both won game one of their doubleheaders on Sunday, but both lost in game two, while SMSU pushed across the game-winning in the ninth for the victory.
 
SMSU will be the No. 10 seed in the 10-team tournament, concluding the regular season 15-24 overall, 10-14 in the NSIC. SMSU will play No. 7 seed Minnesota State in the first round on Thursday with first pitch at 10 a.m. at Sherman Park in Sioux Fall, South Dakota.
 
In game two, Kali Tomlinson's sac fly scored Emma Grote for the game-winning run. Grote started the ninth reaching on an error by the UMC pitcher and then moved to third on an error on the shortstop off the bat Abbie Decker. Following a fly out to left field, Tomlinson stepped up and hit a sac fly to center to score Grote.
 
Athena Golling (5-9), who pitched all nine innings for the Mustangs, retired the Golden Eagles in order in the ninth to secure the victory. Golling allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and finished with seven strikeouts, while walking one.
 
UMC (6-40, 2-22 NSIC) scored single runs in both the first and second innings to build a 2-0 lead.
 
SMSU rallied to tie the game in the fourth as Bailey Johnson hit a one-out triple and scored moments later on an RBI single by Tomlinson. A two-out walk by Mackenzie Clouse put runners on first and second before Kaylee Hentges hit a clutch run-scoring single to knot the game at 2-2.
 
In the opener, Megan Cull (5-9) earned the complete game victory in the circle, scattering 12 hits and allowing six runs (five earned) with four strikeouts and two walks.
 
Hentges led the Mustang offense in game one with a 3 for 3 effort, while Tomlinson and Madison Krog each finished 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI.
 
SMSU opened the scoring in the first inning as Decker singled and scored on an RBI triple by Johnson. Johnson would later score on a wild pitch to give SMSU an early 2-0 lead.
 
SMSU added to the lead in the third on an RBI single by Krog, before Alex Reak connected on a three-run homer to push the margin to 6-0. It was Reak's third home run of the weekend.
 
UMC pushed across three runs in the fourth to cut the lead in half, but SMSU picked up two more runs in the fifth inning as Sara DeSmet hit a two-out, two-run single.
 
Tomlinson closed out SMSU's scoring with a solo home run in the sixth to make the score 9-3.
 
UMC would score three runs in the seventh and put the tying run on base, but Cull ended the rally with a pop out to secure the victory.
 
SMSU and Minnesota State will be meeting for the first time this season. The two teams scheduled doubleheader earlier this month was canceled due to poor weather.