By: NSU Sports Information

Sioux Falls, S.D. – After several weather delays, the Northern State University softball team started competition from the NSIC Tournament at Sherman Park this afternoon facing the Bemidji State Beavers. The Wolves fell in game one 6-3, pushing them to the loser's bracket to take on Winona State in game two. NSU sealed the game two victory 5-3 over the Warriors, advancing into day two of the tournament.

Game One

As a result of being the lower seed, Northern State was chosen as the away team and first to bat in the contest. After a walk and a stolen base from Kelsey Gale, the Wolves ended the top of the inning leaving the senior stranded on second.

In the bottom of the first with two outs, Lyndsey Peterson of BSU blasted a solo homerun to right field to give the Beavers the 1-0 advantage. Bemidji State continued to work offensively with two outs by loading the bases, however freshman Jamie Fisher ended the threat by striking out Brooke Phillips to head into the second inning of play.

After a scoreless inning for the Wolves, Bemidji State added to their one run lead with another homerun, this time a two-run shot off the bat of Jessica Yost. Northern State responded to the 3-0 Bemidji State lead in the top of the third.

Michaela Liebl singled through the right side, and quickly advanced to second on a pass ball. Kelsey Gale once again reached base with a single to left center, advancing Liebl to third and herself to second on the throw. In the next at bat, Kalie Maiden walked to load the bases for the Wolves. Rachel Albright lifted a sacrifice fly into foul territory on the following play, scoring Liebl from third to make it a 3-1 game.

Climbing back into the contest, Northern State tacked on another run in the top of the fourth as Katelynn Dilts led off with a single through the left side. With one out, Jamie Fisher hit the ball hard to the right side, tallying a base hit to score Dilts from first.

After tumbling over the right field fence and robbing a homerun, junior Rachel Albright connected for one of her own in the top of the fifth to tie the game 3-3. The Beavers, however grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the same inning, collecting three runs off of five hits and one error.

Northern State was unable to comeback from the three run deficit and would end the game taking the 6-3 loss. Kelsey Gale, Jamie Fisher and Katelynn Dilts each recorded two hits for the NSU offense, while Rachel Albright knocked in two RBIs.

Pitching in relief, Missy Elkins received the loss, falling to 12-16 on the year. Elkins held the Beavers to five hits and struck out three batters.

Game Two

Picking up action again at 7:00 p.m., Northern State would face the No. 6 seeded Winona State in the second game of the day. The Wolves tacked on two early runs in the top of the second inning as Jamie Fisher doubled down the left field line. After a Michaela Liebl walk, junior Lauren Kunz laid down a sacrifice bunt to place the two runners in scoring position. At the plate next, Kelsey Gale dropped a ball into the right field gap, scoring both Fisher and Liebl to put the Wolves up 2-0.

Winona State snuck a run across the plate in the bottom of the fourth to cut the NSU lead in half, however the Wolves added to their lead in the top of the next inning. Kalie Maiden and Rachel Albright each reached base for Northern State, while Brittney Lash and Jamie Fisher batted them around. The Wolves would extend their lead to 5-1.

Winona State, down by a pair of runs, battled to the end. The Warriors loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, however Lauren Kunz snagged a ground ball in the five-six hole for the final out of the game.

Missy Elkins collected her 13^th victory of the season from the mound against the Winona State offense. The junior held the Warriors to just three earned runs and left 12 base runner stranded in seven complete innings pitched.

Jamie Fisher led the Wolves from the plate, going 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Kelsey Gale added to the aggressive offense collecting two RBIs in the contest.

Northern State is slated to take on the No. 2 seeded Minnesota Duluth at 10 a.m. tomorrow from Sherman Park.