Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University centerfielder Kaylee Hafermann jumps up while going after a fly ball during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference softball doubleheader against Winona State at Mustang Field in Marshall on Friday afternoon.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team couldn’t end its 37-game head-to-head losing streak against Winona State on Friday afternoon. The Mustangs fell behind early in both games of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader and never recovered, falling 8-0 in six innings in the first and 5-0 in the second.

Karlie Miller was charged with the loss in the first game, falling to 12-10 after giving up six earned runs over five innings, while Morgyn Otte fell to 10-9 in the second after allowing five earned runs over five innings.

Emma Humpal and Lexi Ingalls each had a pair of hits for SMSU, with Ingalls also earning a walk and SMSU’s lone RBI in the doubleheader.

Winona worries

SMSU has lost 37 consecutive games against Winona State, with the Mustangs’ last win against Winona State coming by a score of 2-1 in the 2009 regular season. They went on to lose two more games to the Warriors in the NSIC tournament that year and another in the Division II NCAA Tournament regional.

“Hats off to Winona, they’re a great program. They pitch well, they play defense, they do a good job,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said.

Playoff hunt

SMSU falls to 28-22 on the season with the pair of losses. With four games left on the schedule, SMSU is in 9th place in the NSIC standings at 10-14. Sioux Falls is tied with the Mustangs at 9-13 with two games in hand, while Minnesota State University-Moorhead is two games back of the Mustangs with two games in hand. The top 10 teams in the conference qualify for the NSIC tournament, with SMSU seeking its first postseason appearance since 2021 when it defeated Northern State 4-1 before falling 6-0 to No. 17 Minnesota State and 2-1 to No. 23 Winona State.

“All I can ask is that we go out and play Mustang softball,” Bouman said. “We need to pitch, put the ball in play, play hard, and execute when we have runners in scoring position.”

Up next

The Mustangs will return to action at Mustang Field for the last time this season today, hosting Concordia-St. Paul for a Senior Day doubleheader at noon. At the time of publication, Concordia-St. Paul sits in seventh place in the NSIC at 13-9.

GAME 1 (6 inn.)

SMSU 0

Miller was tagged with the loss in the day’s first game, giving up six earned and one unearned run over five innings. She struck out three batters while surrendering eight hits and five walks.

Winona State first took the lead with an Indigo Fish RBI single in the first inning and built upon that lead with an RBI single from Alyssa Woelfel and a two-run double from Logan Anderson in the second.

Humpal and Kaylee Hafermann each singled to account for SMSU’s lone hits of the game. The only other baserunner came when Miller reached on an error to start the bottom of the third, but Winona State turned a 4-6-3 double play to clear the basepaths. No Mustangs advanced past first base in the game.

Winona State starting pitcher Jayda Berg threw a complete game with 35 pitches. She struck out one batter while surrendering two hits without a walk, improving to 17-5 on the year.

“You just have to give credit to Winona. I mean, she threw strikes,” Bouman said. “We were aggressive, they just didn’t find the holes.”

In the fifth inning, Braelee Jodarski hit a two-run double and Sam Keller drove in another run on a single. Kiley Slaats also scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to activate the mercy rule.

Woelfel and Jodarski each had a pair of hits for the Warriors, while Jodarski and Anderson accounted for the game’s lone extra-base hits. Keller also had three walks and a hit.

Jordan Bussey pitched one inning of relief, allowing one earned run on a pair of walks with a strikeout.

GAME 2

SMSU 0

With two outs and Woelfel on second base after getting a walk and a steal, Fish hit a double down the left-field line to give the Warriors the game’s first run in the top of the first. Another pair of walks loaded the bases but Russell jumped up to field a line drive to end the inning without further damage.

The Warriors added to their advantage in the third inning. Otte retired the first two batters of the inning, but Fish singled to get on base and Bryn Elsenpeter hit a fly ball to deep center field that glanced off the glove of a leaping Hafermann for an RBI double. Slaats followed up with another RBI single to make the score 3-0.

Otte gave up five earned runs over five innings of work in the circle for SMSU. She struck out a pair of batters while allowing eight hits and three walks.

Paris Van Dyke hit a double with one out in the seventh inning for SMSU’s lone extra-base hit of the day. After a walk to Marsh, Ingalls hit an RBI single to get SMSU on the scoreboard.

Slaats crushed a two-run homer well past the left-center wall to give Winona State a five-run cushion in the top of the fifth.

Ingalls had a pair of singles and a walk while Grace Anderson and Humpal each contributed a single.

Izzy Howe tossed the full seven innings for Winona State, allowing one earned run on five hits and a pair of walks.

Marsh pitched two scoreless innings of relief to close the game for the Mustangs, striking out a pair of batters while giving up a double and a walk.

Slaats had three hits and a walk for the Warriors.