Rochester, Minn.—MSU senior Chelsea Erickson’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh gave Minnesota State the 3-2 win over Minnesota Duluth to advance the MSU in the NSIC Tournament in Rochester, Minn.

The seventh-ranked Mavericks (45-8) advance to play #17 Augustana at 3 p.m., Friday afternoon in Rochester. Both teams are undefeated in the tournament as the winner will advance to the finals.

Early on, the Bulldogs loaded the bases up in the second with no outs and the Mavericks tallied two consecutive outs without giving up a run. UMD’s Goris rolled a slow grounder to third but a high throw by MSU was able to score a run for the Bulldogs.

Minnesota Duluth loaded the bases up again in the fourth with one out as two fly outs would end the inning as MSU was able hold UMD to no runs in the inning.  

MSU sophomore Kelly Wood singled to right field to start the bottom half of the fourth. Redshirt freshman Christina Redd pinch ran for Wood and stole second base and moved to third on a passed ball on consecutive pitches.  Junior shortstop Abby Sonner tagged a RBI single to score Redd, knotting the game at one.

The Bulldogs tallied their second run of the game in the seventh inning to jump ahead 2-1. Both UMD runs in the game were unearned.

In the bottom of the seventh, Minnesota State junior outfielder Lauren Morris got on base from a fielder’s choice before MSU sophomore Lindsay Erickson crushed a ball to right field that went under the fence for a ground-rule double, putting runners at second and third with two outs. MSU senior outfielder Chelsea Erickson ripped the game-winning walk-off single to right center to score Morris and Lindsay Erickson to guide MSU to a 3-2 comeback win.

Minnesota State junior pitcher Courtney McKelvogue went three innings and gave up four hit as senior hurler Kendra Huettl went the final four, marking four strikeouts. Both pitchers gave up one unearned run.

The Mavericks made three errors to the Bulldogs’ one. Both teams had nine hits in the game.

For live stats for the MSU vs. Augustana game, click HERE.

For tournament headquarters, click HERE.