CLERMONT, Fla. – The Southwest Minnesota State softball team remains perfect on its spring trip by earning another sweep on Friday, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.), 11-3 in five innings, and Dominican (N.Y.) 5-1 at the Legends Way Ballfields.
SMSU, 11-7 overall, is now 8-0 in Florida with eight games remaining.
The Mustangs got off to a hot start against the Spartans, scoring two runs in the first inning.
Abby Boxrud singled to left field to start and moved to second off a fielder's choice before
Emma Humpal singled to load the bases.
Paris Van Dyke walked home the first run and in the next at-bat,
Brynn Webber hit a deep fly ball to left field to score Russell and put SMSU up 2-0.
Boxrud and Russell each singled to start the third inning before Humpal put a perfectly placed ball into left-center field for an RBI single. Van Dyke again loaded the bases and Webber scored the fourth SMSU run by forcing the defense into an error.
SMSU was not done yet, as
Karlie Miller hit a sac fly to center to score Humpal before
Lexi Ingalls doubled to the left-center gap to tack on two more runs and push the lead to 7-0.
STAC used a pair of Mustang errors to score three runs and shave the deficit to four heading into the fourth inning.
Boxrud and Russell both walked to begin the fourth and scored shortly after. After working to a 1-1 count against Humpal, the STAC catcher threw down to second for an attempted pickoff but missed wide, allowing two more runs to score.
The Mustangs scored twice more in the top of the fifth and held on to secure the run-rule win.
Jordyn Marsh (2-2) earned the win after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
SMSU gathered eight hits in the win over STAC, with
Abby Boxrud going a perfect 2 for 2 at the plate with a pair of walks, while
Emma Humpal finished 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs. Van Dyke, Webber, and Ingalls all also recorded two RBIs.
The Mustangs started a bit slower against DUNY, trailing 1-0 through the first three innings.
SMSU was finally able to break through in the fourth off a two-out RBI single to right field from
Kaylee Hafermann.
The Mustangs kept their foot on the gas, tacking on four insurance runs in the fifth inning. A pair of singles to start the inning put two runners on base before Humpal singled up the middle, advancing to second on the throw, to plate the go-ahead run. A pitching change for the Chargers gave Van Dyke the perfect opportunity to lay down a squeeze bunt and score the runner from third.
Webber and Marsh rounded out the scoring with RBI singles before a pop-out and ground-out ended the inning.
Marsh (3-2) earned her second victory of the day allowing just one hit in four additional scoreless innings while striking out six.
SMSU is back on the diamond on Sunday, March 9, taking on Queens College (N.Y.) at 1 p.m. CST, and Eckerd College (Fla.) at 3:15 p.m.
