KINGSVILLE, Texas - It may have taken No. 23 Midwestern State awhile to get on the board Friday at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Invitational at Hubert Field.

But Alyson Reynolds took the task literally as she dented TAMUK's new scoreboard with her second home run of the season to key a 4-0 win over Texas A&M International in MSU's opener.

The Mustangs then rolled to an 8-0 run-rule victory over Southeastern Oklahoma in five innings to improve the best start in program history at 8-0.

"It was the first pitch out of the girls' (TAMIU pitcher Kyndal Reaves) hand," MSU coach Brady Tigert said. "And she just crushed a pea rod out to left-center field."

Reynolds broke open a scoreless game with a drive over the left-field fence after Kim Jerrick drew a one-out walk followed by an infield single by Mallory Mooney to chase TAMIU starter Victoria Beltran, who fell to 0-2 after allowing three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The runs more than enough pad for MSU starter Brittney Tanner who improved to 5-0 with a three-hit shutout. She notched 13 strikeouts and walked two.

MSU would take on an insurance run in the seventh as Courtney Bingham tripled down the left-field line then came into score on Jerrick's RBI double to the left field gap.

It was first three triples for Bingham, who sparked the Mustangs in the run-rule victory over Southeastern Oklahoma.

The Arlington product drilled a triple over the center fielder's head to drive in Elena Bennett, who reached on a bunt single, to give Midwestern a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Mustangs piled on seven more runs in the fourth inning keyed by Bingham's third triple of the afternoon - a bases loaded, bases clearing shot. She would then come in to plate the eighth run of the game on Reynolds' run-scoring single to left field.

Senior Kristina Gutierrez shut down the Savage Storm attack by allowing three hits while striking out six in the five-inning affair.

The Mustangs continue tournament play Saturday with games against Texas A&M International at 1 p.m. and Texas A&M-Kingsville at 3.

Game Notes

* Midwestern State is off to its best start in school history at 8-0 which betters the 5-0 start of the inaugural squad in 2004. The Mustangs have won 56 of their last 62 regular season contests.
* Junior third baseman Mallory Mooney and sophomore second baseman Carey Campbell collected hits in each game Friday to extend hitting streaks to eight games.
* Sophomore outfielder Courtney Bingham became just the third player in MSU history and the first in seven years to hit two triples in a single game joining Allison Tidwell (vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 27, 2004) and Kortney Kemper (vs. North Dakota on Feb. 8, 2004).
* Junior third baseman Mallory Mooney extended her career-best errorless game streak to 38 games by handling three chances flawlessly on Friday. The Arlington native has not committed an error since March 6, 2010 at Missouri Southern and has handled her last 112 chances without a miscue.
* Senior pitcher Brittney Tanner weaved her eighth career shutout Friday against Texas A&M International. She has now claimed wins in 27 of her last 30 decisions dating back to the beginning of the 2010 season.