CLERMONT, Fla. — The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team earned another sweep on Sunday, moving to 10-0 on its spring trip with wins over Queens (N.Y.), 7-2, and Eckerd (Fla.), 4-3.
With the two wins, SMSU extends its win streak to 12 games, its longest streak since winning 14 consecutive games in the 2007 season.
Against Queens, SMSU erupted into a five-run second inning to put the Knights down 5-0 early and never looked back.
Paris Van Dyke got the Mustangs going by reaching first with a walk before advancing all the way to third off a stolen base and wild pitch.
Brynn Webber would also walk and baited a throw down to second that went wide into the outfield, allowing Van Dyke to score from third and put SMSU up 1-0.
The next Mustang run came off a bases-loaded sacrifice fly delivered by
Kaylee Hafermann. Following the sac fly,
Riley Kramolisch laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Miller and put the Mustangs up by three.
Down 1-2 in the count,
Abby Boxrud singled through the left side to score another run before
Abby Russell forced an error to plate the final run of the inning.
The Knights suffered two passed balls and a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth, allowing Van Dyke to wheel around the bases and score with no issue.
QC finally broke through in the sixth inning, scoring two unearned runs off a throwing error from third while the bases were loaded.
The final Mustang run came through off a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Karlie Miller (6-3) earned the win against the Knights after limiting QC to four hits and two unearned runs while striking out six in six innings.
Jordyn Marsh tossed the final inning in relief, allowing a pair of hits and striking out two.
SMSU gathered four hits in the win with
Abby Boxrud leading the bats going 2 for 3 at the plate with an RBI.
The Mustangs took advantage of an error in the first inning against the Tritons, scoring an unearned run on a wild throw to third base.
Eckerd countered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, using a squeeze bunt to tie the game in quick fashion.
A quiet second led to a big third for SMSU, starting with a two-out single down the right-field line from
Emma Humpal. In the next at-bat, Van Dyke hammered a single to right field to move Humpal to third, before Webber doubled to the opposite field to plate two more runs.
The Tritons again responded, plating two runs in the bottom half of the third to tie the game once again.
Van Dyke got the Mustangs going again by reaching on an error before Webber moved her to second with a sac bunt. In the next at-bat, Marsh grounded out to third base, but an errant throw back to the third baseman went back to the fence and allowed Van Dyke to score the go-ahead run.
Jordyn Marsh entered in the fifth inning when the game was tied, and shut down the Tritons to earn the win, holding EC hitless in three innings while picking up three Ks.
SMSU recorded eight hits in the win over Eckerd, with
Paris Van Dyke and
Emma Humpal both picking up a pair of hits while
Brynn Webber recorded two RBIs.