ABERDEEN, S.D. – Recording their third doubleheader sweep of the conference season, University of Sioux Falls Softball defeated Minnesota State Moorhead in both games on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars rode the hitting and pitching of Kerrigan Hoshaw to a 7-4 victory in game one. In game two, Breanna Black worked a 10-inning complete game as USF scored five runs with two outs in the top of the 10th inning to earn a 5-2 extra-inning victory.
 
Sioux Falls improves to 23-10 on the season with a n 8-2 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition. Tied for second in the NSIC, Sioux Falls travels to Wayne State for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11. The Cougars return home to host University of Mary and Minot State on April 14 and 15, respectively, at Sherman Park.
 
Sioux Falls 7, MSU Moorhead 4
Breaking open a scoreless game with five runs in the third inning, Kerrigan Hoshaw hit what proved to be the game-winning run on a three-run homerun in USF's 5-2 victory. Hoshaw threw five innings and earned her fifth win of the season as Lindsey Mossman and Breanna Black both finished with two hits and Ashley Meyer drove in a pair of runs to pace the USF offense.
 
 Neither team managed a hit in the first two innings, but the Cougars quickly seized a lead with a big third. Black sparked the rally with a one-out double but was replaced by Megan Peterson on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Mossman kept the rally alive with a single to right field. Sydney Nieveen loaded the bases when she was hit by a pitch and Meyer logged both of her RBI on a single up the middle.
 
With two on, Hoshaw gave herself a lead, hitting her fifth homerun of the season, a deep fly to right field, scoring Meyer and Nieveen for a 5-0 lead. Hoshaw then tossed her third straight shutout inning, but MSU Moorhead plated two in the bottom of the fourth to trim USF's lead to 5-2.
 
A pair of doubles helped the Cougars add an insurance run in the fifth inning. Nieveen doubled to left centerfield as the leadoff hitter. With two outs, Francesca Mickelson drove in her teammate with a ground-rule double down the left-field line.
 
Hoshaw avoided any damage in the fifth, stranding two runners to finish with a line of five hits, two earned runs allowed, five strikeouts in five innings. Sioux Falls added another insurance run, scoring again in the top of the sixth. Black started the rally with a one-out single and after a Peterson walk pushed her into scoring position, Mossman drove her in with a single to centerfield.
 
Courtney Mathews came on in relief of Hoshaw with a 7-2 lead and she kept it intact with a shutout sixth inning. Freshman catcher Emmie Uitts erased the lone baserunner, throwing out the would-be base stealer before Mathews's strikeout ended the inning.
 
Sioux Falls went down in order in the seventh, but USF's five-run cushion proved to be enough to withstand an MSUM rally. The Dragons got two hits off Mathews and pushed across two runs, but the sophomore righthander ended the game emphatically with her third strikeout in two innings.
 
Sioux Falls 5, MSU Moorhead 2 (10 innings)
A two-out rally in the 10th inning led to five runs and Breanna Black's masterful pitching effort held as Sioux Falls completed their sweep of MSU Moorhead with a 5-2 victory. Black threw all 10 innings, allowing just six hits – only one through seven innings – and picked up her 10th win of the season. The Cougars held a 12-6 edge in hits, led by Emily Hove's three hits and two-hit efforts from Ashley Meyer, Emily Cheloha and Megan Peterson.
 
After allowing a hit in the bottom of the first, Black was nearly untouchable through the next eight innings. She finished with eight strikeouts, her third game with six or more Ks in her last four starts, and struck out the MSUM side with three straight Ks in the fourth inning.
 
Meyer and Hove both had base hits in the first two innings, but Dragon starter Tori White kept pace with her USF adversary to open the game. Black stranded a pair of runners in the second inning with aan inning-ending strikeout.
 
The Cougars looked poised to break the scoreless tie in the fourth when Francesca Mickelson and Hove strung together a pair of two-out hits, but USF couldn't break through. Peterson recorded her first hit with one out in the fifth and USF threatened in the sixth after Sydney Nieveen was hit by a pitch and Kerrigan Hoshaw singled with one out, but the Cougars left both on base.
 
Black worked 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh, but White up to task, holding the Cougars to just Cheloha's leadoff hit in the seventh and forcing extra innings.
 
USF went down in order in the top of the eighth inning and Black extended the game, avoiding any damage by stranding MSUM's leadoff single in the bottom half. The Cougars nearly manufactured the go-ahead run in the ninth after Mickelson reached first on a dropped third strike in the leadoff at-bat. Hove moved her to second on a sacrifice bunt, but Mickelson was left at second with two straight outs. Black tossed a perfect ninth inning, giving the Cougars another chance to take the lead.
 
Seizing their opportunity, the Cougars' 10th trip to the plate looked bleak to start, but five clutch hits and a few MSU Moorhead miscues finally broke the scoreless tie. Peterson led off with a single and was moved into scoring position on Mossman's sacrifice bunt. A foul out gave the Cougars two outs, but Meyer stepped up in the next at-bat, scoring Peterson with an RBI single.
 
A pair of wild pitches advance pinch runner Cassie Van Beek to third and Hoshaw worked a walk to put runners on the corners. Stepping up off the bench, Emily Miller started a string of RBI hits with a pinch-hit single to score Van Been. Hove followed with a single to left, scoring Hoshaw for the third run of the inning.
 
Cheloha kept the Cougar rally alive, singling to right field, scoring Miller and forcing a pitching change. Two more wild pitches advanced Hove and Cheloha into scoring position and another wild pitch allowed Hove to score and give the Cougars a 5-0 lead.
 
MSU Moorhead didn't' go down without a fight, breaking up Black's shutout, but the senior righthander stood tall in the circle. Black allowed four hits in the 10th inning, allowing her first two runs of the game. She stranded the final two runners with a groundout, preserving the USF lead for a 5-2 win.