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Jamestown, N.D. – The Northern State University softball team opened their 2025 season on Friday with a pair of run-rule victories over Valley City State and Montana State Billings. The Wolves combined for 17 hits in the two wins, scoring 20 runs.
 
THE QUICK DETAILS
Final Score Game 1: NSU 11, VCSU 0 (5 inn.)
Final Score Game 1: NSU 9, MSUB 1 (5 inn.)
Records: NSU 2-0, VCSU 0-1, MSUB 1-6
 
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. VALLEY CITY STATE

• In the opener against the Vikings Northern went to work early, scoring two runs in the first, one in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth
• They tallied 11 runs on eight hits, including three doubles, with one error in Abby Rux's first win of the season
• Rux threw a 5-inning shutout, giving up just three hits and two walks, while striking out four
• The Wolves quickly got to work in the first, loading the bases which resulted in two runs: a walk by Tevan Bryant scoring Aune Boben and a groundout by Mckenzie Wanner scoring Dessa Bryant
• Boben tallied the first hit and RBI of her career in the second on a double to center that put the Wolves up by three with Eden Ford scoring on the play
• Tevan Bryant scored for NSU in the third on a groundout by Brooke Carlson, while Boben and Dessa Bryant scored in the fourth on a pair of sacrifices by Emma Owens and Tevan Bryant
• The Wolves put together a big fifth inning which sealed the run-rule with five runs on two hits; run scorers in the fifth included Carlson, Alysa Lowe, Ford, Dessa Bryant, and Owens
• Owens and Wanner led the team, with two hits apiece, while Boben, Ford, and Wanner each recorded a double
• The Bryant sisters combined for RBIs in the game with Tevan notching a team leading three, followed by Dessa with two

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Abby Rux: 5.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, 4 strikeouts, win
• Emma Owens: 2-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI
• Mckenzie Wanner: 2-for-4, 1 double, 1 RBI
• Tevan Bryant: 1-for-2, 1 run, 3 RBI, 1 sacrifice
• Dessa Bryant: 1-for-3, 3 runs, 2 RBI

 
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. MONT. ST. BILLINGS

• Northern captured the win in game two, scoring nine runs on nine hits with just one error
• Mckenzie Wanner entered the win column in the circle, throwing five innings with three hits, one earned run, and three strikeouts
• The Wolves scored first in the second on a double by Alysa Lowe to left center, plating Addy Hobza who was pinch running for Avarie Eagle
• They extended that lead in the third with three runs off the bats of Tevan Bryant and Eagle
• Dessa Bryant and Emma Owens led off the third with back-to-back singles and Bryant came around to score on a error by the YellowJacket second basemen the following play
• Eagle tallied a 1-out single to left scoring both Owens and Courtney Hennen, the flex running in the designated player's spot
• Billings responded in the bottom of the frame with one run following a lead-off triple to center
• The Wolves weren't finished, adding five runs on four hits in the top of the fifth
• Eagle scored on Eden Ford's bases loaded walk, Lowe and Brooke Carlson scored on a single by Aune Boben to center, and Ford and Boben scored on a single to left by Owens
• Dessa Bryant, Owens, Eagle, and Lowe each notched two hits in the win, with Boben, Owen, and Eagle recording a pair of RBIs
• Nine players scored in the contest for NSU and Carlson led the offense with two of the team's four walks

 
NORTHERN STATE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

• Avarie Eagle: 2-for-3, 1 run, 2 RBI
• Alysa Lowe: 2-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 double
• Dessa Bryant: 2-for-3, 1 run
• Emma Owens: 2-for-4, 1 run, 2 RBI

 
UP NEXT
Northern returns to Jamestown tomorrow for a pair of evening contests. The Wolves will face Valley City State and the University of Mary at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. in the Nelson Family Bubble.