After shutting out second-seeded New Ulm Cathedral 5-0 on Thursday a Caswell Park in the Section 2A softball finals, top-seeded Nicollet punched its ticket to the state tournament next week.

A four-run outburst shook things up in the sixth inning and put the Raiders up 5-0. That extra boost started off the bat of Hayley Selby, who had a two-run homer.

Marah Hulke reached earlier in the inning on a single and scored on that home run.

After that home run, the Raiders got singles from Leah Bode and Sam Kettner before Josi Hansen singled in Bode. After a strikeout saw two outs in the inning, Morgan Arndt doubled in Kettner for a 5-0 Nicollet lead.

Staff photos by Travis Rosenau Nicollet’s Hayley Selby yells in celebration on her way to third after hitting a home run against Cathedral on Thursday at Caswell Park in the Section 2A softball finals.

Hulke, the Raiders’ starting pitcher during the game, gave up a single to Emily Guggisberg with one out in the seventh before getting a groundout and a strikeout to send the Nicollet fans and players into a frenzy.

“I got the strikeout, Morgan had dropped it but threw it to first, and it kind of hit me once it hit first,” Hulke said. “I ran up to Morgan and I was, like, ‘We really just did it, we’re state bound.’ It takes a little bit to sink in, and I don’t know if it will really sink in tonight, but I know tomorrow when we wake up it’ll definitely feel like, ‘We did it, we’re going to state.'”

Hulke finished the game with 10 strikeouts, allowing seven hits and a walk.

Bode was 2 for 3 to lead the Raiders at the plate.

But Selby’s home run in that sixth inning could easily be considered the game’s most impactful hit.

“Hitting on our team is contagious,” Selby said. “I knew that if I just got them going, it would follow, and that’s exactly what my teammates did.”

The Raiders scored their first run of the game in the first inning after Hulke scored on a throwing error to first.

After that, things were pretty quiet until that rowdy sixth inning from the Raiders.

Megan Haala took the loss for Cathedral, allowing eight hits for four earned runs. She only allowed two hits until Nicollet’s six-hit sixth inning.

Kiah Helget was 2 for 4 to lead the Cathedral bats.

The Raiders begin Class A State Tournament action on Thursday.