By: by Jeff Schmidt

Box Score
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Southwest Minnesota State softball team once again defeated Sioux Falls in the NSIC Tournament, winning 4-2. The Mustangs defeated the Cougars earlier in the tournament, 5-4.
 
SMSU will play the winner of Bemidji State and Upper Iowa today at 2 p.m. Sioux Falls was eliminated from the tournament and concluded its season 24-20 overall.
 
Alex O'Connor (11-15) went the distance in the win, allowing seven hits, two runs and walking four, while punching out five.
 
SMSU registered five hits and four RBIs in the win, but left six runners on base. Taylor Koloc led the Mustangs with a hit and two RBIs, while Karmann Carroll and Taylor Chavez both added an RBI.
 
Southwest Minnesota State wasted no time getting the scoring started, as Carroll and Koloc started the game with back-to-back home runs to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. USF responded with a run in the bottom half of the first inning to cut SMSU's lead to one.
 
Both defenses were on point down the stretch, as neither team could get a run across. SMSU expanded its lead in the fifth after Koloc hit a sac fly to left field to score Abbie Decker. A few batters later, Chavez knocked a single up the middle to push Sam Flack across and to give the Mustangs a 4-1 lead. Sioux Falls tried to rebound in the final frame after it scored on a single with two outs, but SMSU forced a fly out to secure a 4-2 victory and to defeat the Cougars again.
 
Follow @smsusoftball on Twitter to stay up to date with game updates and other information all tournament long.