Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ABERDEEN, S.D.—A pair of strong pitching performances led the University of Mary (24-16, 9-7 NSIC) to a sweep of Northern State University (9-25, 2-16 NSIC) Tuesday afternoon in Northern Sun softball action. The Marauders won the first game 2-0 by way of a pair and timely, and scored three unearned runs in the second as they won 5-1.

Cherlyn Trujillo tossed a complete game shutout and picked up 11 strikeouts in the opener. Erin Keen allowed just one run and struck out seven in the second game. Both pitchers picked up their 11th wins of the season.
 
Game 1
 
A dominant performance by Trujillo and a pair of timely hits led the Marauders to a 2-0 win in the opener. Trujillo allowed just three hits and struck out 11 for U-Mary.
 
Allison Brown led the Marauders going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and a run scored. Kristin Ormsby and Taylor Mendez each had two hits in the game.
 
After recording a hit in both the first and second innings, U-Mary got on the board in the third. With one out Brown reached with a double to left. Alana Norman followed with a single up the middle to advance Brown to third. After Norman stole second, Ormsby delivered the games first run with an RBI single to centerfield.
 
U-Mary had hits in the fourth and fifth innings as well, but weren't able to get back on the board until the sixth. With one out Ormsby and Amber Gamboa each singled and eventually advanced on a double steal. With two outs Francine Villalobos was hit by pitch to load the bases. Mendez followed with an RBI single through the left side to give the Marauders a 2-0 lead.
 
Two runs were more than enough for Trujillo as she held the Wolves hitless in the final two innings to secure a 2-0 win, including striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Finishing with 11 hits, U-Mary had a hit in all seven innings. With six stolen bases in the game, the Marauders had their most steals since March 8 against St. Anselm.
 
Game 2
 
Northern State gave U-Mary three unearned runs in the second game, which would have been more than enough run support for Keen, as she allowed just one run in a complete game effort in a 5-1 win over the Wolves.
 
One of seven players with a hit, Gamboa was the only Marauders player to record more than one hit as she went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
 
With one out in the third inning Brown connected on her second triple of the day. Up next, Norman reached on an error by the Wolves second basemen to score Brown from third. With two outs and runners at the corners, the Marauders ran a double steal to score Norman from third to give U-Mary a 2-0 lead.
 
Seventh in the nation steals per game, Norman was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts on the day.
 
With one out in the fourth inning the Wolves scored their only run of the day on a solo home run to left field.
 
 
In the sixth Gamboa and Villalobos each singled and Demaree Rodriguez was hit to load the bases. With two outs Keen singled to the shortstop to score Gamboa and Villalobos as the Marauders built their lead to 4-1.
 
With two outs in the seventh Gamboa and Julissa Perales singled. Villalobos followed reaching on an error by the pitcher to score Gamboa to give U-Mary a 5-1 lead.
 
U-Mary allowed NSU to threaten in the bottom of the inning as two errors and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for the Wolves. Keen induced a groundout on the next batter as the Marauders held on for a 5-1 win.
 
Again in the second game, U-Mary had a hit in all seven innings. Leading by one in both games heading to the sixth, the Marauders are now 18-1 when leading after five innings.
 
Up Next

With the wins the Marauders have now won for consecutive games. U-Mary will be at home this weekend as it hosts St. Cloud State University on Friday at 1 p.m. and University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at noon.

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