MARSHALL — Coming off a pair of stellar pitching performances in a doubleheader sweep of Sioux Falls on Wednesday, the Southwest Minnesota State University softball team’s strength in the circle carried into the weekend’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchups against Minnesota State University-Moorhead and Northern State. SMSU swept the Dragons 8-0 in six innings and 3-0 on Saturday behind the pitching of Karli Miller and Morgyn Otte, and the momentum continued over to a 3-2 and an 11-5 win over Northern State on Sunday.

“After a couple of losses, we took a step back and said that we need to have fun,” Miller said, noting the team’s eight-game skid prior to Wednesday. “Let the bad things go and move on to the next… We try to flush it and just look at the positives throughout each game.”

Miller pitched a complete game to earn the win in the first matchup of each doubleheader, allowing two runs with nine strikeouts over 13 innings of work. Otte also struck out six batters while allowing two earned runs over nine innings of work in the pair of wins, while Jordyn Marsh increased her save total to nine by closing out the final game of each doubleheader.

Miller, Riley Kramolisch and Abby Russell each notched four hits on the weekend, with Russell also driving in six runs.

Southwest Minnesota State now sits in ninth place in the NSIC at 10-12 with a 28-20 overall record. Their six-game win streak is the second-longest in the conference to Minnesota State’s 12-game surge.

The Mustangs will next host Winona State for a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. before welcoming Concordia-St. Paul to Mustang Field for a Senior Day doubleheader on Saturday at noon. SMSU’s 28 wins are its most since its 29-19 campaign in 2011, and it has the opportunity this weekend to eclipse the 30-win mark for the first time since 2009’s 32-23 finish.

MSUM 0

The Mustangs cemented their win in the sixth inning, in which they scored seven of their eight runs and accumulated four of their 11 hits, as well as three walks.

Miller and Kaylee Hafermann singled to start the inning with a Lexi Ingalls walk in between to load the bases with no outs. The Dragons subbed in Eliya Johnson for Brynna Farman in the circle after the Ingalls hit, but SMSU’s offense persisted.

Kramolisch had a pitch ding off her helmet to drive in one run and Abby Boxrud worked a walk to push across another when the Dragons made another pitching change, putting Bella Hess in at pitcher.

Russell kept the Mustang rally alive with a two-run single down the left-field line and, after an Emma Humpal single, Grace Anderson hit a sacrifice foul out into left field to score Boxrud on the inning’s first out. Paris Van Dyke grounded out to put two away, but Brynn Webber hit a two-run single to end the game via run rule.

“They did a good job of being disciplined, but being aggressive and looking for their pitch,” SMSU head coach Bailey Bouman said. “They’ve done a good job of that, just figuring out what they want to hit and then going up there and looking for what they want.”

Russell, Humpal and Ingalls each had a pair of hits in the game while Russell and Webber tied for a game-high two RBIs.

Kramolisch scored the go-ahead run for the Mustangs in the third inning. The SMSU centerfielder replaced Hafermann on first on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third on singles by Boxrud and Russell, and scored when on a Humpal fielder’s choice.

Miller got the start in the circle for the Mustangs, pitching the full six-inning shutout for SMSU, striking out four batters while giving up four hits and a walk.

Farman was tagged for three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks in her five-inning start, while Johnson allowed two earned runs on two walks and a hit batter without getting an out in her relief appearance. Hess also allowed two earned runs on three hits while getting a pair of outs.

Avery Steffen accounted for two of Moorhead’s four hits while Jessie Henry and Teagan Pranchke each accounted for another.

MSUM 0

Like the first game, Kramolisch scored the go-ahead run for SMSU in the second. She reached second base on an error on the game’s second pitch and advanced to third on a Boxrud gound out before scoring on a Humpal sacrifice fly to left field.

Otte earned the pitching win for SMSU, tossing five scoreless innings before being relieved by Marsh. Otte struck out four batters without a walk while giving up two hits in the game.

“They just believe they’re capable,” Bouman said of the team’s defensive performance as of late. “I think wins are great, and I think feeling confident defensively and offensively and all those pieces are very, very good help for us. But I think sticking with who we are and playing Mustang softball, doing what we’re supposed to do, pitching while playing good defense and getting the hits when we need to.”

SMSU added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth when Hafermann singled and scored from first when Moorhead made a fielding error on Kramolisch’s sacrifice bunt attempt. Kramolisch went on to score on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0.

Isabel Rodriguez pitched four innings, allowing three unearned runs on four hits and a walk in the loss for Moorhead. Steffen also pitched a pair of innings of relief for the Dragons, retiring six of the seven batters she faced with a walk and three strikeouts.

Marsh threw two scoreless innings of relief, allowing a hit and a walk with a strikeout to earn her eighth save of the year.

Kramolisch, Van Dyke, Hafermann and Ingalls each had a hit for the Mustangs. Humpal accounted for the game’s only RBI.

For Moorhead, Henry, Steffen and Johnson each singled.

NORTHERN STATE 2

SMSU fell behind 2-0 after the first inning but slowly worked its way back before claiming the lead in the sixth. Humpal drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on an Anderson single and a Van Dyke ground out, and scored the game-winning run on a Miller single.

Dessa Bryant hit a double with one out in the top of the seventh, and got to third base on an Addy Hobza single with one out. Yet, Miller got a strikeout and induced a fly out to center field to leave the tying and go-ahead runs stranded on the corners.

Miller improved to 12-9 on the season with her seven-inning outing, giving up seven hits and a walk. For the Wolves, Abby Rux fell to 7-17 after allowing three earned runs on eight hits and a trio of walks over six innings.

Eden Ford walked and Madi Jones singled with one out in the top of the first. After a ground out advanced the two into scoring position, Avarie Eagle hit a two-run double to give the Wolves an early lead.

SMSU tied the game up in the fourth inning when Humpal singled and then scored on a Miller single with two outs.

Miller led the Mustangs at the plate with three singles and a pair of RBIs in the game, while Anderson also singled twice. Hobza also notched three hits for Northern State.

SMSU scored its first run in the bottom of the second when Anderson hit a leadoff single before scoring on an Ingalls groundout.

GAME 2

Northern State 5

The Mustangs led wire-to-wire in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. They first surged ahead when a Humpal sacrifice fly scored Kramolisch and an Anderson single scored Russell in the first inning. That lead increased further when Kramolisch reached on a fielder’s choice to score Miller and Russell singled to score Kramolisch and Hafermann in the second for a 5-0 lead.

Russell racked up a double, a single and a pair of walks for four RBIs in the game. Boxrud and Kramolisch each also singled twice with an RBI while Miller logged a single and a walk for two RBIs.

Otte tossed four innings while allowing two earned runs to improve to 10-8 on the season. She struck out a pair of batters while surrendering three hits and a walk.

Northern State first got on the scoreboard when Tevan Bryant hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Still, an RBI single from Boxrud and a two-run double from Russell in the bottom of the frame brought SMSU’s lead to 8-2.

Marsh earned the three-inning save to close the game, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Aune Boben fell to 1-12 on the year after giving up eight earned runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings, while Rux allowed another two earned runs on two hits and three walks over 2 2/3 frames.

Hafermann reached on an error by Jones at third base to drive in Van Dyke for a 9-4 lead through five, and Miller hit a two-runs ingle in the bottom of the sixth to bring SMSU’s lead to 11-5.

Jones and Tevan Bryant each hit an RBI single in the fifth inning for Northern while Kennedy Boyer hit another in the top of the sixth.

Familiar faces in familiar places

After playing second base as a freshman, Humpal shifted over to third to start her sophomore campaign while freshman Ingalls took over at second. Humpal committed 16 errors in 39 games at third this year, but the team swapped her back over to second base on Wednesday while Ingalls moved over to third. In the six games since the relocation, Humpal has not committed an error while Ingalls has committed one.

“I think the thing that’s great with Emma… is she just wants to do whatever the team needs to be successful and win,” Bouman said. “Just giving her another try at second base and Lexi at third, it’s worked out well for us so far, but that’s just a testament to the kids buying into what we’re doing and trusting that we’ve got their best interests at heart.”