Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

ABERDEEN, S.D. – After weeks of schedule shifts and weather-related changes, the Northern State University softball team finally took to their home field on Tuesday, hosting the University of Mary Marauders in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader.  Battling wind and pending rain, the visiting Marauders escaped with a pair of wins, taking 7-5 win in eight innings in game one before erupting for a 10-0 five-inning win in the nightcap.

The Wolves fell to 3-26 on the year and 0-14 in NSIC play, while the Marauders moved to 8-26 overall and 3-7 in conference action.

NSU took the early lead in what proved to be a back-and-forth affair in Game 1.  The Wolves also took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, an inning that was sparked by a lead-off triple by freshman third baseman Whitney Luhring.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Marauders responded with a 3-run effort in the top of the fifth.  Meagan Lunn started that rally with a lead-off homer, her fifth blast of the season.  U-Mary added two more scores in the inning to take the 4-3 lead.

However, the Wolves refused to concede the game, coming back with the tying run in the bottom of the sixth, and again in the bottom of the seventh.  NSU also had a chance to end the game in regulation, putting the go-ahead run on third base with two outs, but U-Mary right-hander Brenda Langston got a called third strike to escape the jam.

The Marauders then strung together four straight hits to start the eighth inning, plating a pair of runs before working a 1-2-3 bottom half of the extra stanza to claim the victory

Luhring and sophomore second baseman Lindsey Cegla combined for five of the Wolves' seven hits in that game, going 5-for-7 with four runs scored and two runs batted in between them.  Senior Breanna Milnes, who came on in relief in the top of the seventh, was charged with the loss, giving up three runs on six hits in two innings.

U-Mary's Lanston picked up her third win of the year with a complete game effort for the Marauders.

Game 2 belonged almost entirely to the Marauders, who scored at least one run in each of the first four innings, including a 4-run third inning, while holding the Wolves to just four hits and six base runners in the game.

The Wolves are slated to remain at home for a pair of weekend doubleheaders, weather-permitting.  NSU is set to host Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday and St. Cloud State on Sunday, with the first pitch slated for noon both days.