Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Marshall, Minn. – The Northern State University softball team opened the NSIC conference season with a pair of victories over Southwest Minnesota State. The Wolves improve to 15-10 on the year and 2-0 in league play, heading into a Sunday doubleheader with Sioux Falls.
 
Game One
 
The Wolves shutout the Mustangs in game one, with a score of 5-0. Brittney Lash started the Northern scoring with a leadoff single in the top of the second. Lash came around to score of a Kelsey Gale triple to right center.
 
NSU then added three more runs in the fifth, as Kelsey Gale, Kalie Maiden, and Rachel Albright crossed the plate. Gale reached base by a walk, while Maiden and Albright recorded singles. Rachel's single to the shortstop scored Gale. Macey Engel and Brittney Lash tallied an RBI a piece in the inning with a double to centerfield and single through the left side.
 
Engel notched her second double of the game in the top of the seventh, down the left field line. The junior came around to score of a Michaela Liebl single up the middle. Katelynn Dilts and Lauren Kunz also singled in the inning.
 
NSU ace Kami Smesmo tallied her second shutout of the season, throwing a complete seven innings for the Wolves. The senior gave up five hits and recorded six Mustang strikeouts in her tenth win of the season. Kami has now matched her career high of ten wins in a single season, with 28 games left in NSIC play.
 
Maiden, Engel, and Lash each recorded two hits in the win, as the Wolves tallied 11 in the game.
 
Game Two
 
The Wolves were back at it in game two, scoring first in the top of the third. Kalie Maiden singled to the shortstop and stolen second to put herself in scoring position. Senior Eryn Yancy stepped to the plate, and belted a double down the left field line, scoring Maiden and putting the Wolves on the board. Yancy came around to score in the next at bat, as Rachel Albright doubled to right center.
 
Michaela Liebl started the Northern two-out rally in the fourth with a single through the left side. The freshmen advanced to second on a wild pitch by the SMSU starter Chadwick. Lauren Kunz scored Liebl off a single through the left side.
 
Northern's final runs of the game came in the sixth, leadoff with a Brittney Lash single to right. Lauren Kunz and Kelsey Gale recorded singles in the inning, while Lash and Kunz scored off Southwest errors. Kunz led the team with two hits in the game.
 
Missy Elkins tallied her second shutout and fourth win of the season. The sophomore threw a complete seven innings for the Wolves, giving up five hits and striking out two.
 
NSU will be back in action tomorrow on the road versus Sioux Falls. Game times are set for 12 and 2 p.m. between the Wolves and the Cougars.