St. Joseph, MO - In their final day from Missouri, the Northern State University softball team collected their second-straight split, defeating Nebraska, Kearney 4-2 and then falling to Missouri Southern State 3-2. The Wolves conclude the Hy-Vee Classic 2-4 and are now 15-9 overall in the 2017 season.
Game One- Nebraska, Kearney
The Lopers were first to threaten in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases off an error, a walk and a single.
Jamie Fisher forced a groundout back to the mound to leave three runners on and hold UNK scoreless.
In the top of the second,
Jamie Fisher led off with a single up the middle, followed by a walk from
Kennady Thompson. After
Courtney Sjerven advanced the runners to second and third, senior
Lauren Kunz blasted a triple to right field to put the Wolves up 2-0.
Nebraska, Kearney responded to the two-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out double to right field. An infield single put runners on the corners with Macey Nelson at the plate. Nelson connected for an RBI single to cut Northern's lead to just one run. A sacrifice bunt by Molly Stern then tied the game at 2-2.
In the Wolves' final at bat,
Shayla Steinley walked with one out.
Jenna Helgeson and
Katie Dawson followed with a pair of singles to give NSU the one-run advantage once again. Senior
Rachel Albright tacked on another insurance run with an RBI infield hit to the shortstop.
Entering in relief,
Missy Elkins held the Lopers in the bottom of the seventh to seal Northern State's 15
th win of the year.
The Wolves collected ten team hits in 31 at bats.
Lauren Kunz led the Wolves going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, followed by
Jenna Helgeson and
Katie Dawson with two hits each.
Game Two – Missouri Southern State
Northern State got the bats going in the top of the third as freshman
Shayla Steinley singled down the left field line. Steinley used her wheels to advance to second on a stolen base with
Jenna Helgeson at the plate. Helgeson placed a base hit to right field to score Steinely and give the Wolves the 1-0 lead.
The Lions matched Northern's runs in the bottom of the following inning. They connected for three back-to-back singles through the infield with one out
. Bailey Skelton drew a walk to tie the game at 1-1, however
Missy Elkins tallied a strikeout to leave three runners on.
Lauren Kunz walked to lead off the top of the fifth for the Wolves. Fellow senior,
Katelynn Dilts, bunted to advance Kunz into scoring position for
Shayla Steinley. Steinley launched a double over the head of the center fielder to give NSU the lead once again.
In the bottom of the sixth with one runner on, Sydney Koch
blasted a homerun to left field to score what would be the game-winning run.
As a unit, NSU recorded eight hits in 27 at bats.
Shayla Steinley led the team going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while
Jenna Helgeson connected for two hits.
Missy Elkins held the Lions to three earned runs, giving up nine hits in 27 batters faced. With the loss, Elkins drops to 6-6 from the mound.
The Wolves will host MSU Moorhead on Tuesday, March 28
th from the Moccasin Creek Softball Complex in their first NSIC match-up of the 2017 season.
