Minot, N.D. – Following a 16-10 victory over Valley City State to open up the season on Friday night, Golden Eagles softball was able to build on that momentum on Saturday by sweeping two games at the Minot State Bubble with a 1-0 victory in the first game over Dakota Wesleyan and a 14-8 victory over the University of Mary to finish off the day.
 
With the win, the Golden Eagles are off to their best start in program history, starting 3-0 for the first time ever.
 
Game One
The story in game one was all about freshman Evie Stuck (Fr., P/OF, Papillion, Neb.), who went the distance, while striking out six to pick up her first career win.
 
The only run of the game would come in the bottom of the first and the first hitter of the game. Dana Zarn (Jr., IF, Winnipeg, Manitoba) would show off her opposite field pop, sending a ball over the right center field fence to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.
 
It turns out, that is all the Golden Eagles would need, as Stuck held the Tigers offense to just five hits and didn't face a real threat until the top of the seventh, when DWU had the bases loaded with one out, but Stuck would get out of the jam for the 1-0 run.
 
Minnesota Crookston finished with four hits, led by Whitnee Curry (Fr., IF, Lincoln, Neb.), who finished with two hits on the day. Zarn and Jordan Peterson (R-Sr., UT, Lakeville, Minn.) each finished with one hit apiece.
 
Game Two
Game two would see the polar opposite of game one, as Minnesota Crookston would defeat the Marauders by collecting 14 runs on 11 hits.
 
Minnesota Crookston would start out the scoring in the top half of the second inning by scoring six runs. The big inning would be started by a Brittney Mengel (Fr., OF, Sullivan, Wis.) RBI groundout. Annjelica Moreno-Engelbrecht (R-Jr., P/UT, Oceanside, Calif.) would collect her first career RBI on a single to center field, scoring Hannah Macias (Sr., OF, West Covina, Calif.).
 
Zarn would drive in three on a bases-clearing triple and would then score on an Alina Avalos (Jr., IF, Riverside, Calif.) RBI single.
 
The two teams would then be scoreless in the middle innings, but the Golden Eagles would score three in the top of the fifth, capped off by another Avalos RBI single, this time driving in two, to make it 9-0.
 
The Marauders would score two in the bottom of the fifth, but that wouldn't deter the Golden Eagle bats.
 
Alyssa Stillman (Jr., SS/2B, Hortonville, Wis.) would double in a pair and then would later score on a three-run home run from Zarn to make it 14-2.
 
The Marauders wouldn't go away easily. UMary would score six runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 14-8, but that is as close as they would get, as the Golden Eagles would close the door to win 14-8.
 
Another day, another six RBI performance for a Golden Eagle hitter. This time it was Zarn, who finished 2-5 with six RBIs and two runs. Stillman, Moreno-Engelbrecht, Avalos and Jenna Parfeniuk (Jr., 1B/P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) each finished with two hits. Minnesota Crookston finished the game with 11 hits. Parfeniuk and Stillman each finished with three runs.
 
In the circle, Thayda Houser (So., P, Seymour, Iowa) would collect her first career win, by going five innings and giving up 3 runs, all earned on seven hits, while striking out four. Nicole DeDen (Fr., P, Mission Viejo, Calif.) would come in and go 0.2 innings, while giving up five runs on four hits. Kamryn Frisk (R-Sr., P/1B, Anchorage, AK), would come in and slam the door to help the Golden Eagles improve to 3-0.
 
The Golden Eagles will look to continue the best start in school history tomorrow afternoon as they wrap-up their weekend in Minot against Minot State. First pitch with the Beavers is set for 2 p.m.