ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State softball team (21-31 overall) concluded its season on Friday morning, dropping a 1-0 contest at the hands of Minnesota Duluth (39-15) in an elimination game of the NSIC Tournament at the RYFSA Complex.
 
After 2 ½ hitless innings, UMD filled the bases to open the bottom of the third with a single to left and a pair of infield singles. A fourth single in a row drove in the game's lone run, but a relay from Emily Tatur to Abby Russell to Molly Bull halted a second runner from scoring, and a hard ground ball to Jillian Noel allowed her to touch third and throw to first, escaping the inning with just one run allowed. 
 
SMSU left a pair of runners on in the fourth but gave themselves a chance to respond in the sixth. Tatur walked with one out in the inning, and a Bailey Johnson single to third base gave the Mustangs life. 
 
Noel singled the next at bat, but Tatur would be thrown out at home on a perfect throw from the left fielder. Bull followed suit, singling to center with two outs, but the Bulldogs again threw a runner out at home to keep SMSU off the board and hold the game to its final score. 
 
Shelby Bloemendaal (10-10) was outstanding in the circle, keeping the Mustangs in the game. She allowed just the one run on six hits and a walk while striking out two. 
 
In the final game of her Mustang career, Johnson powered the offense with her third multi-hit game of the tournament, picking up two of the four SMSU hits. Her single in the fourth inning was the 224th in her career becoming the program's all-time hits leader. Erin Dickhausen (2005-08) held the previous record of 223. Johnson finishes her career as the program's all-time leader in hits (225) and doubles (64), while ranking second in batting average (.374), on base pct. (.466), runs scored (142), total bases (368) and third in slugging pct. (.612).
 
The Mustangs finish the season 21-31, winning a tournament game for the fourth consecutive tournament.