Minnesota State Mankato beat top-seeded Angelo State 5-1 Sunday in the first game of their best-of-three championship series in the NCAA Division II women's softball College World Series in Salem, Va.
Coley Ries threw a three-hitter and struck out 11 for the second-seeded Mavericks (63-7). Alyssa Rickels went 3-for-3 and her two-run single in the top of the second gave MSU Mankato a 2-0 lead. Teammate Jess Meidl was 2-for-4 and scored once.
The second game is 11 a.m. Monday and the Rambelles (60-6) will have to win it to force a third game, which would follow.
"This is not over," Mavericks coach Lori Meyer said. "We have to come prepared [Monday] to work hard and play our style of ball."
"We battled and kept taking good swings," Angelo State coach Travis Scott said. "We got a lot of at-bats on [Ries] today and we saw her a lot, so we know what to expect now."
The Rambelles of San Angelo, Texas, scored their only run on an error in the seventh.
Etc.
• Nate Hanson and Brady Shoemaker hit back-to-back solo homers for the St. Paul Saints in the third inning, but that was the extent of their offense in a 5-2 loss to the Kansas City T-Bones at CHS Field.
• Noah Shannon, a consensus three-star defensive lineman from Oswego, Ill., decommitted from the Gophers and reopened his recruitment.
