Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2Rosemount, Minn. – The Northern State University softball team recorded their first sweep of the2015 season versus Northeastern State from the Rosemount Irish Dome. The Wolves took game one 4-2, and then came back in game two with a 6-2 victory. NSU improves to 3-1 on the year heading another non-conference doubleheader tomorrow.
Game One The Wolves went down early against the Riverhawks in game one, as Northeastern State notched two earned runs in the top of the first. The two teams then remained scoreless heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Northern started the bottom of the inning, with leadoff batter
Kelsey Gale. Gale singled to left field for her first hit of the game. After a
Kalie Maiden fielder's choice,
Eryn Yancy singled up the middle, advancing Maiden to second in scoring position.
Rachel Albright stepped to the plate, blasting a double through the right side and putting the Wolves on the board, as Maiden and Vernon (Engel) scored.
Macey Engel has walked the previous at-bat, and pinch run for. The Wolves were not done yet, adding two more in the inning.
Kami Smesmo recorded her first victory of the season, while breaking the NSU All-Time strikeout record in the process. Smesmo was one K away from tying Hall of Fame ace Tanya (Frerichs) Sheldon. Smesmo surpassed Sheldon's mark, tallying four strikeouts and brining her career total to 357. The senior threw seven innings giving up seven hits and two earned runs.
Three Wolves recorded two hits in the game, while
Rachel Albright led Northern with two RBI.
Eryn Yancy,
Katelynn Dilts, and
Rachel Albright notched two hits apiece, accounting for six of the team's eight total in the win.
Kelsey Gale and Brittany Lash tallied a hit each in the win. With the eight hits, Northern averaged .333 at the plate versus Riverhawk ace Wooldridge.
Game Two The Wolves scored first in the second game of the day off the bat of
Macey Engel. Engel grounded out to the shortshop, scoring
Kalie Maiden who singled two at bats prior. The Riverhawks answered back in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own.
Northern scored in four out of the seven innings play, tallying two in the third and fourth, while adding one in the fifth. The Wolves combined for a season high 12 hits in the game with four players tallying two each.
Kalie Maiden,
Rachel Albright,
Katie Dawson, and
Lauren Kunz garnered two hits each, while
Kelsey Gale,
Courtney Moore, and
Ashley Clapp tallied one apiece.
Albright led the team with another two RBI in the win, bringing her day total to four. She also smashed her first homerun of the season in the top of the third, putting Northern up 3-1. Gale and Yancy each doubled in the game, giving the Wolves a total of three extra base hits.
Missy Elkins took the mound for the Wolves earning her second victory of the season. The sophomore tallied six strikeouts while giving up five hits and one earned run in the win.
NSU will be back in action tomorrow from the Rosemount Irish Dome a doubleheader versus Drury University. First pitch is set for 8 a.m. between the Wolves and the Panthers.
