MINOT, N.D. - On the cusp of a sweep over their rivals to the north, the University of Mary Softball team were sunk late in the 12-inning marathon against Minot State University on the backend of the doubleheader and instead had to settle for the split on the day.
 
The Marauders (12-26, 6-13 NSIC) jumped out to an early lead over the Beavers (13-24, 2-17 NSIC) in game one and held on for an 8-4 win, and had the opportunity for the sweep behind Taylor Mendez's two home runs in game two before a pair of blunders gave Minot State the chance to tie en route to the 6-5 loss.
 
GAME ONE
 
U-Mary struck first in the top of the second in game one after Colleen Crutchfield led the inning off with a walk and Kylie Alto followed up with a ground ball that was too hot to handle out to third base for runners at first and second with nobody out.
 
Alexandra McDermott inched them closer to the plate after her sacrifice bunt and Lex Hubbard capped off the mini-rally with a two-run single down the right field foul line for a 2-0 Marauder lead heading into the third.
 
The Marauders got three more in the top of the third starting with Mendez getting plunked by a pitch with one out only to reach second on Shawnee Zink's single back up the middle with two on and one out.
 
Crutchfield drew another walk to load the bases and Alto got the scoring started with her shot out to right field for another two-run single for a 4-0 U-Mary lead. They received some help from Minot State's defense in the next at bat as McDermott reached on the fielder's choice as her ground ball was scooped up by the shortstop and an errant throw allowed Crutchfield to score to give the Marauders a 5-0 lead going into the fourth.
 
Though MeLanie Rodriguez mystified the Beaver batters through the early portions of the game, they finally found the gaps in the fourth as Rachel Burdette led the inning off with a solo shot to center field, while Alyssa Cornejo followed up a few batters later with a two-run double that skipped over the outfield fence to cut the Marauders' lead down to 5-3, forcing a pitching change later in the inning.
 
Rodriguez had the last laugh as she struck out Tylar Holland, while Brieann Backes closed out the inning on a lineout from Jordan Grant to halt the Beaver rally.
 
Minot State inched closer on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth as Ashley Hill laced a single down the left field line to score Clarissa Ramirez and the Beavers had the chance to take over the lead as they had runners at the corners with nobody out.
 
The Marauder defense ensured that wouldn't be the case after Backes drew another lineout from Isis Cabral for the first out, and ended the inning on a tailor-made double play groundball to Alto at shortstop that quelled any hopes of tying the score, instead leaving the game at 5-4 going into the sixth.
 
U-Mary got some insurance runs in the top half of the sixth after Demaree Rodriguez drove a single into the right center gap to score McDermott, while Colleen Crutchfield padded the lead further in the top of the seventh with her two-run home run down the left field line to set the score at 8-4 favoring the Marauders.
 
Meanwhile, the Beavers were held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and had a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh after reaching on the lone Marauder miscue of the day, but instead the defense came up big once again as U-Mary turned their third double play of the day as the groundball from Daniela Carbajal went straight back to the pitcher and Backes initiated the final outs on a strong throw back to Mendez and ended in the glove of Zink to finalize the score at 8-4. U-Mary also turned a double play in the bottom of the third in addition to their double play in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Shawnee Zink and Kylie Alto each finished with two hits on the day as Zink notched a single and double to go with her two runs, while Alto added two singles, two RBI and a run.
 
Lex Hubbard had two RBIs as well to go with her lone single of the day, while Colleen Crutchfield brought the power with her two RBIs on her home run along with two walks.
 
MeLanie Rodriguez took the no decision as she was pulled after 3.2 innings, striking out two, which gave Brieann Backes the win as she went 3.1 innings in relief and gave up four hits to her one run.
 
GAME TWO
 
The second half of the doubleheader ended up as a polar opposite to the first as the Beavers jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the second on Cabral's two-run shot to left field to open up the scoring, padded their lead with a pair of Marauder miscues to score Jordan Grant during her stolen base attempt in the bottom of the third, and capped off with an RBI single from Kyla Larson in the same inning for a 4-0 Minot State lead going into the fourth.
 
U-Mary finally got on the board in the top of the fifth as Mendez added to her day with a single to right field to score Demaree Rodriguez, and ended up scoring on Crutchfield's hard shot to the shortstop to cut the Beaver lead down to 4-2 going into the sixth.
 
Rodriguez inched U-Mary closer on the board in the sixth after she singled to center field to score McDermott, which set the stage for the Marauders facing a seventh-inning deficit once again.
 
Mendez answered the call as she showcased her opposite-field power with a moon blast out to right field to lead off the seventh and knot the score at 4-4, but U-Mary failed to take over the lead as Jenn Spencer sat down the next three Marauder batters to head into the bottom half of the inning.
 
Brieann Backes was back in the circle once again, as she got the call in the bottom of the fourth to relieve Taylor Lara, and turned in a dominating performance in her hometown during the extra innings. She baffled Minot State with a good mix of off-speed and breaking pitches as the Beavers went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, but the Marauders had no response for Spencer as she, too, retired U-Mary in order in the top of the eight.
 
Burdette drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eight for Minot State but never made it to second as Hill lined right into a double play as her batted ball went right on a line to Zink at first base. The Beavers were still in position to end the game as Larson singled through the left side and Cabral was struck by a pitch, but Backes forced a popup from Cornejo to squelch the rally and send the game into the ninth.
 
U-Mary went down in order in the top half of the ninth, while Minot State managed only one base runner during their at bats before going away quietly. Neither team could manage a decent look in the 10th as Zink drew the leadoff walk for U-Mary and was followed by back-to-back fielder's choice groundballs, while Minot State went down in order to send the contest to the 11th.
 
Alana Norman gave the Marauders some hope with her one-out single in the top of the 11th, but ran into trouble as Demaree Rodriguez lined into a double play right at the first baseman, while the Beavers got a leadoff single from Cabral before Cornejo flied out to left field and Holland drove a fly ball to the right center gap that was caught by Hubbard and the resulting throw retired Cabral as she attempted to tag up, extending the grueling match to the 12th inning.
 
Mendez proved to be a difference maker as she showcased that opposite field power once again with a solo shot out to right field to give U-Mary the 5-4 lead, but Spencer proved she was more than able to power through her 12th inning in the circle as she struck out the next two U-Mary batters to keep Minot State within reach going into the bottom half of the inning.
 
Unfortunately, it seemed the mistakes finally caught up to U-Mary as Lauren Cowden led off the inning with a double to left field, advanced up to third on a errant throw on a failed pickoff attempt, and scored during Ramirez's at bat on a passed ball to even the score at 5-5.
 
Ramirez followed up with a single to center field that opened up the flood gates as Burdette singled down the right field to move her up to third and Hill ended the lengthy game with her RBI single to right center, spoiling the sweep attempt and sending U-Mary back to Bismarck with a split on the heels of a 6-5 decision.
 
Taylor Mendez finished with three hits in the game, adding one single to her two home runs, along with three RBI and three runs to increase her career total to 34 home runs, only three shy of tying U-Mary's NCAA-era mark of 37 set by Allison Brown back from 2011-14.
 
Alana Norman and Demaree Rodriguez each finished with a pair of singles as Rodriguez added a run and RBI to her total.
 
Taylor Lara started the game for U-Mary in the circle and lasted three innings before getting the hook for Brieann Backes. Backes went more than a regulation game as she ended with 8.1 innings pitched, while giving up eight hits and two runs in the contest.
 
The Marauder continue their journey on the road this Saturday as they visit St. Paul, Minn., to take on Concordia University-St. Paul on April 16, with first pitch schedule for 1 PM.
 
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