Aberdeen, S.D.  – The Northern State University softball team dropped a pair of NSIC contests to the University of Sioux Falls on Monday. Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, the Wolves sit 11^th overall with the top-10 teams qualifying for the NSIC Tournament.
 
THE QUICK DETAILS
Game 1 Final: NSU 5, USF 7 (10 inn)
Game 2 Final: NSU 3, USF 8
Records: NSU 15-25 (7-11 NSIC), USF 20-19 (10-8 NSIC)
 
GAME 1
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Kennady Thompson opened the contest for the Wolves with a bang, blasting her ninth homerun of the year and 15^th of her career to capture the Northern State record
• Courtney Sjerven scored on the play after reaching base via a single to left, which gave Northern a 2-0 lead
• Sioux Falls tied things in the bottom of the fourth, however the Wolves rallied back for two more runs in the fifth and sixth innings
• Rachel Reinke scored Cassidy Schaar on a double to left center field in the fifth, while Madison Rutter scored Emma Terveer on a single to center in the sixth; Terveer was pinch running for Jen Martin who singled up the middle
• The Cougars tied the game for the second time in the bottom of the seventh, forcing extra innings
• Northern grabbed one run in the top of the eighth, on their second homerun of the game, a long ball down the left field line by Kaitlyn King
• Sioux Falls tied the contest for the third time in the bottom of the eighth, and held the Wolves scoreless through the ninth and tenth before sealing the 2-run victory
• Northern tallied five runs on 12 hits without giving up an error defensively
• Jamie Fisher started for NSU, throwing 4.0 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts
• Makenzie Merritt entered in relief and suffer the loss, giving up five earned runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Kennady Thompson: 3-for-5, 1 run, 2 RBI, homerun, double
• Jamie Fisher: 3-for-5
• Madison Rutter: 2-for-4, 1 RBI

 
GAME 2
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sioux Falls took a 1-0 lead in the first at-bats of game two, before the Wolves knotted things up in the top of the third
• Madison Rutter tallied her fifth homerun of the season, on the first pitch of her at-bat
• The Cougars broke open the game in the fourth, notching six runs on four hits, and added their eight run of the contest in the fifth
• Northern battled in the top of the seventh, but it was too little too late as the Wolves plated just two runs
• Rutter doubled down the left field line, scoring Emma Terveer (single) and Kaitlyn King (single)
• The Wolves tallied three runs on six hits with one error defensively
• Andrea Cherney suffered the loss giving up seven earned runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Madison Rutter: 2-for-3, 1 run, 3 RBI, homerun, double
• Kaitlyn King: 2-for-3, 1 run, double

 
UP NEXT
Northern State returns to the Presentation College dome tomorrow evening for an NSIC doubleheader versus Minot State. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. versus the Beavers.