Bemidji, Minn. – The Northern State University softball team faced the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles in a neutral site double-header tonight from the campus of Bemidji State University. In game one, the Wolves prevailed 9-5 in eight innings of play, while game two ended in a 5-5 tie due to darkness on the field. The Wolves are now 18-9-1 overall and 3-0-1 in conference play, meanwhile the Golden Eagles drop to 10-15-1 overall and 0-3-1 in the NSIC.
Game One
Northern State jumped out to an early lead in the contest, tallying one run in each of the first two innings. In the top of the first with two outs,
Jenna Helgeson doubled to an outfield gap, followed by a
Katie Dawson with an RBI single. In the top of the second, senior
Rachel Albright doubled to lead off the inning.
Lauren Kunz was hit by a pitch and
Katelynn Dilts singled to load the bases for the Wolves.
Jenna Helgeson walked to give NSU the 2-0 advantage.
The Golden Eagles drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. UMC advanced the runner to third off a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to third. Samantha LeMay launched a long single to the outfield fence to score Rockey Bjorge from third and cut the Minnesota Crookston deficit in half.
The Wolves tacked on three runs in the sixth and seventh innings with RBIs off the bats of
Shayla Steinley,
Jamie Fisher and
Lauren Kunz.
Minnesota Crookston responded in the bottom of the seventh, quickly loaded the bases with one out. A single up the middle and a line drive down the right field line scored three for the Golden Eagles. Down by one with one out,
Missy Elkins would come in, in relief. Elkins forced a groundout to third, however the Wolves were unable to hang on at first base, and UMC would tie it at 5-5.
Shayla Steinley led off the eighth with a bunt single for the Wolves, followed by
Jenna Helgeson with a single up the middle. With two runners on,
Katie Dawson ripped a base hit to score two. NSU added a pair of insurance runs as
Kennady Thompson and
Jamie Fisher tallied RBI hits to make it 9-5.
Missy Elkins and the Northern State defense shut the Golden Eagles down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth to seal the four-run victory.
The Wolves recorded 15 hits in 40 at bats as a unit in the eight-inning game.
Katie Dawson and
Kennady Thompson led the team with three hits each.
Lauren Kunz,
Katelynn Dilts and
Shayla Steinley also collected two a piece from the plate.
Jamie Fisher held the Golden Eagles to eight hits in 6.1 innings of work from the mound.
Missy Elkins went on to record the win with 1.2 innings pitched for NSU, as the senior did not allow a hit in seven batters faced.
Game Two
The Wolves tacking on a run early once again in the top of the first off three consecutive singles and a drawn walk from
Rachel Albright.
Madison Rutter led off the second with a double, scoring off an RBI single from
Katelynn Dilts to make it a 2-0 contest.
The Wolves added another run in the fourth as
Jamie Fisher singled to lead off the inning.
Madison Rutter hit into a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a pass ball. With a runner in scoring position,
Lauren Kunz lifted a double to right center to score Rutter.
Northern State added two more runs in the following inning off a single, a walk, three wild pitches and a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Rachel Albright.
The Golden Eagles began to mount a comeback in the bottom of the sixth when Maycee Trujillo connected for a two-run homerun to make it a 5-2 ball game.
Minnesota Crookston rallied once again in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs with two outs to tie the game at 5-5. The game would go on to end in an unconventional tie due to a lack of light on the field.
Offensively, the Wolves recorded eight hits in 29 at bats as a team.
Jenna Helgeson led Northern State with two hits and two runs scored, while
Madison Rutter and
Lauren Kunz each tallied extra base hits.
Missy Elkins allowed five earned runs, giving up 11 hits in seven complete innings from the mound. Elkins collected six strikeouts and forced nine groundouts in 35 batters faced.
The Wolves will continue NSIC action tomorrow versus Bemidji State at 12 and 2 p.m.
