SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Bemidji State University softball team rallied to end a 12-game losing streak against Southwest Minnesota State University at the Morningside Little League Complex in Sioux City, Iowa Monday morning before dropping the second game of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) doubleheader. The Beavers won 5-4 in the first game before falling 8-6 in the second game.

Upon ending its losing skid, BSU moved to 8-27 with a 2-16 mark in NSIC play.

The Beavers fell behind 3-0 in the first game of the day and that deficit held until the fifth inning, when Crystal Bowen (Sr., IF, Duluth, Minn.) drove in Nicole Dupay (Jr., OF, Woodbury, Minn.) and Mikayla Osterman (Fr., OF, Sierra Vista, Ariz.) singled home Lyndsey Peterson (Fr., P/IF, Cottonwood, Minn.) to make it 3-2.

In the sixth inning, BSU gained its first lead of the game with two runs, but the Mustangs knotted the score in the bottom of the frame with an unearned run.

Bemidji State loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning before Summer Monsrud (So., OF, Bemidji, Minn.) came to the plate and walked in the eventual winning run. Allie Duellman (Jr., P, Maplewood, Minn.) retired three of three SMSU hitters in the bottom of the inning to give BSU its first win since it opened NSIC play on March 28 against the University of Minnesota Crookston. Duellman pitched a complete, seven-inning game while striking out four.

BSU got off to a strong start in the second game, taking a quick 2-0 lead as Peterson blasted a two-run home run.

Southwest Minnesota State responded with seven runs over the next three innings before BSU began to claw back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning as Bowen, Peterson, and Osterman each collected an RBI single.

For the first time in three games, however, the Beavers would not be able to come back to tie the score after falling into an early hole as SMSU answered with another run in the fifth. Bemidji State pushed another run across, but it would not be enough as the Mustangs held on for the 8-6 win. Starter Allison Roberts (So., P, Crystal, Minn.) was charged with her third loss of the season.

Tuesday, BSU hits the field again in St. Cloud, Minn. against St. Cloud State University with a doubleheader that begins at 11 a.m. The games were originally scheduled to be played at Bemidji State, but were moved indoors because of the weather.

For more information on the Bemidji State University softball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@Beaver_Softball or @BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers), or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Mulitmedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooded region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). 

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