MANKATO, Minn. – The No. 22 Winona State softball team rebounded from a hard-fought game one loss to post a convincing 10-2 victory and earn a doubleheader split with Minnesota State Tuesday afternoon in Mankato.

The Warriors had a rough start to the day, as the Mavericks pegged starter Ashley Walker for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first to put the Warriors in a big hole early.

Allyson O'Herron – who recorded the game winning RBI in Sunday's nightcap – brought home WSU's first run Tuesday with an RBI single to score McKenna Larsen and cut the deficit to 4-1. But the Mavericks got the run right back with an RBI double in the bottom of the second to make it a 5-1 game.

After Walker hit the leadoff batter in the bottom of the third and then allowed a single, she was replaced by Karly Olson, who would get out of the jam and pitch and go on to pitch three hitless innings in relief.

Thanks to Olson's efforts in the circle, the Warriors would mount a comeback, as a Larsen RBI in the fifth made it 5-2. Natalie Kalmes led off the sixth with a home run to left field to cut the lead to two, and after a pair of outs, Lexi Perez recorded a triple down the left field line. Reed Karsten then made it back-to-back triples, bringing Perez home with a three-bagger to right field and bring it to a one-run game.

After the Mavs' starter was pulled, Walker – whose bat was briefly out of the lineup for a turn – reentered and produced an RBI single up the middle to bring the Warriors back and tie it at 5-5.

WSU could never complete the comeback, however, as Minnesota State brought home a pair of runs off Hanna Lythberg, who relieved Olson, to make it 7-5 and earn the game one victory.

Lythberg (16-5) suffered the loss, giving up three hits and two runs – one earned – in the one inning of work.

The Warriors turned the tables on the Mavs in game two, storming out to a five-run lead on five hits after the first inning and never looking back en route to a shortened five-inning win.

In the first, Lintz and Larsen each reached on fielder's choice RBIs, followed by a Jessica Kullmann RBI single, an O'Herron RBI single and a Jamee Schleis RBI double to do the early damage.

The Warriors added three more runs in the third, as Perez came through with an RBI double down the line in left field to score O'Herron and Kalmes and knock MSU starter Coley Ries out of the game. Karsten then brought home Perez with an RBI single to make it an 8-0 advantage for WSU.

After Minnesota State got on the board in the fourth to cut the lead back to seven in an attempt to stave off the eight-run rule, WSU added two more in the fifth thanks to a 2 RBI double by Lintz to bring the WSU lead to 10-1. The Mavericks got one back in the fifth, but Lythberg got out of a jam with two runners on to strike out MSU's Ashley Thell and end the game.

Lythberg (17-5), after getting tagged with the game one loss, rebounded with the game two victory, scattering seven hits and two earned runs while striking out five Maverick batters.

Winona State (34-9, 16-2 NSIC) returns home for a Thursday doubleheader against Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. at Alumni Field.