Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State softball team (20-29 overall, 12-14 NSIC) earned a pair of victories with dominant pitching against Bemidji State (11-39, 8-22) by scores of 4-1 and 1-0 on Monday afternoon on Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center. 
 
Shelby Bloemendaal (10-9) allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out six in game one to help the Mustangs clinch a spot in the NSIC Tournament. The junior hurler from Pipestone, Minn., gave up just three hits in the final six innings after the Beavers scored a two-out run in the first.  
 
The Mustangs doubled the first inning total from the Beavers, as a Bailey Johnson triple, Jillian Noel RBI double, and Molly Bull RBI single, all with two outs, gave the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. 
 
That score held until the fourth inning when Makenna Waldow drove in Bull with a two-out infield single to take a 3-1 lead. 
 
SMSU added a two-out insurance run in the fifth when Noel drove in Emily Tatur with a single through the left side to go up 4-1, which would hold to be the final score. 
 
The Mustangs recorded six of their eight hits with two outs in game one, with Jillian Noel and Molly Bull each collecting two hits to lead the offense. 
 
Karlie Miller (8-14) dazzled in game two, picking up a two-hit shutout while walking two and striking out three to dominate the BSU bats. 
 
The SMSU offense also struggled in game two, as each team remained scoreless into the sixth inning, when Molly Bull drove in pinch runner Paige Shwaluk on a groundout to give the Mustangs the deciding run. 
 
SMSU has qualified for the NSIC Tournament for the seventh straight season. SMSU, the No. 8 seed will play at 10 a.m. on Thursday versus No. 9 seed Sioux Falls in Rochester, Minn., at the RYFSA Complex.