CROOKSTON, MINN. – Dominate starting pitching from Hanna Cress and Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag plus hitting from Shayla Running, Cassie Van Beek and Damaris Cuevas as the University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (9-9, 3-1 NSIC) swept a doubleheader from Minnesota Crookston (5-1 5-4, and 8-1 on Friday.

With the sweep, USF improved to 14-3 all-time against UMC and pushed their NSIC winning streak to three games. The Cougars moved back to .500 over at 9-9 and sit at 3-1 in league play, which places them in a tie for fourth place.

USF starting pitchers – Cress and Van Der Zwaag completed for 12 innings and allowed one run and nine hits. As a staff, USF recorded 28 strikeouts with Cress accounting for 20, which is her career-best two game total.  In fact, her 15 strikeouts in a game represent the most by a USF player since 18 by Amanda Walters against Valley City College (ND) since Feb. 25, 2014 and is the most in NSIC league play in school history. Cress was the winning pitcher in both ends of the doubleheader as she improved to 6-5 on the season. In addition, Cress had a 0.75 earned run average with six hits allowed in 9 1/3 innings with the 20 strikeouts and just four walks. Overall, USF had a 2.33 era combined as a team.

At the plate, Shayla Running was 5-of-8 with three runs scored and an RBI while scoring the eventual winning run in the 5-4 game one victory. With her performance, she has raised her average on the year to .348. Damaris Cuevas finished 4-of-7 for the day with three runs scored, double, home and two RBI plus a 1.143 slugging mark. Cassie Van Beek was 4-of-7 with two doubled and two RBI and a slugging mark of .857.  USF hit .269 as a team with 18 hits and 13 runs scored.

USF Head Coach Shannon Pivovar was pleased with the performance, noting how the team is embracing the opportunity to earn success.

"Today revealed a little bit more about our character as a team and I'm so proud of the way our team played," said Pivovar, whose team will play a pair of NSIC game at Bemidji State at noon and 2 pm on Saturday, April 3. "Hanna (Cress) and Kait (Van Der Zwaag) threw big-time in the circle and allowed our defense to work behind them. It was fun to see some of our young players embrace their opportunity at the plate and the team really get excited for others' successes," she said. "We put together 15 consecutive innings of team softball with contributions from every member in some way. We get to play more softball tomorrow and hope to carry these successes into the games with Bemidji State," said Pivovar.

G1 – USF 5 UMC 4 (8 innings)
Shayla Running had three hits and scored the deciding run in the eighth inning as USF took a 5-4 decision in extra innings in the opener against Minnesota Crookston.

Running had a double and two singles, to lead the offense, which also had two hits, stolen base and an RBI by senior Cassie Van Beek. Damaris Cuevas had a hit and run scored while senior Frankie Mickelson had a hit, RBI and run scored. With the RBI, Mickelson has tied Allyson Netty for seventh all-time in USF school history.

Junior Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag worked five innings and allowed just three hits with eight strikeouts but did not figure in the decision. Hanna Cress worked the final 2 1/3 innings to earn the victory. She allowed just one hit and had a pair of strikeouts.

USF took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Damaris Cuevas drew a walk to open the inning and then scored on a RBI double from senior Cassie Van Beek. USF added to its lead in the fifth inning as Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag hit a two-run single as USF took a 3-0 lead. Ahead 4-0 in the sixth inning, UMC broke through and put up four runs to force extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, Running doubled with two outs and came home on a single by senior center fielder Frankie Mickelson with what proved to be the winning run. In the bottom half of the inning, Hanna Cress shut down UMC as the Cougars won its second straight game.

G2 – USF 8 UMC 1 (seven innings)
A combination of the hitting of Damaris Cuevas, Cassie Van Beek and Shayla Running plus a dominate performance in the circle from Hanna Cress led USF to an 8-1 victory in game two and a sweep of the NSIC doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston.

The Cougars scored five runs in the second inning and added two more in the fourth frame with a single tally in the sixth inning as they collected eight runs on nine hits.

Cress (6-5) had her best game at USF in the circle as she completed handcuffed UMC in earning her sixth win of the season. She allowed five hits and a run while striking out a career best 15 and issuing just three walks across seven innings in her fifth complete game of the season and seventh in her career.

The offense was led by Cuevas who had three hits, including her first career home run, and two RBI with two run scored. She also singled and doubled. Van Beek added two hits with an RBI and run scored. She had a double as well. Running had two hits and five for the doubleheader while supplying an RBI and run scored. USF also had a hit and run scored by Mika Rodriguez and a hit from Kylan Straight.

In the second inning, Running's run-scoring single scored Van Der Zwaag, who reached on an error. Later she and Mike Rodriguez, who singled to reach base, scored unearned runs. Van Beek's run scoring single brought home Lexie Swift and Frankie Mickelson, who reached on an error, stole home.  In the fourth inning, Van Beek walked and Cuevas hit a run-scoring double. She later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kylie Madrid. In the sixth inning, Cuevas hit her first career home run as USF's lead grew to 8-1.