Mitchell, South Dakota — Jordyn Kramer and Emily Strasser accounted for five hits each in leading the Northwestern College softball team to a sweep over Dakota Wesleyan, 9-8 in game one and 13-7 in game two.
The wins push Northwestern to 7-3 in the GPAC, 20-8 overall; DWU slips to 1-9 in the conference, 9-17 overall.
Game One: 9-8 win
Northwestern rallied from a five-run deficit after the first inning to claim a one-run win (9-8) in game one. The Raiders scored their first run on a sacrifice fly by Emily Bosch, scoring Madysn Grotewold from third, in the top of the third.
Still down by four (5-1), Northwestern tied the game in the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits and one error. Strasser and Kramer hit back-to-back singles and advanced up to secon and third on a bunt by Grotewold. A DWU error off a ball hit by Emily Bosch led to the first run and Jennifer Boeve added a sacrifice fly that pushed two runs across. Alayna Bakke completed the scoring with a two-out, RBI single.
Northwestern scored four more runs in the top of the seventh, all with two outs, to take the lead for good. Bri Giordano slammed a three-run double, scoring Boeve, Bosch and Jessica Mouw, and scored the final run after a double from Strasser.
DWU made the game close with three runs in the bottom of the seventh as the first three Tiger hitters reached base and later scored with just one out; Kamryn Etherington retired the final two batters on a fly out and ground out, however, to end the rally.
Samantha Ubben (7-5) allowed five hits and five runs, all scored in the first inning, to earn her seventh win of the season. Northwestern totaled 11 hits offensively, led by Kramer (3/4, run) and Strasser (2/4, RBI).
Alyssa Burke took the loss for DWU, giving up four runs over the final 2.1 innings. Reagan Nebel paced the Tigers offense with two hits while Stephanie Gabel totaled four RBI.
Game Two: 13-7 win
Northwestern raced out to a 7-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning en route to a 13-7 game two win. The Raiders totaled 15, led by Strasser who went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and three runs scored. Five other Raiders accounted for two hits each; Bosch scored three runs while Kramer, Boeve, Strasser and Erika McKenney all drove in two.
Etherington (13-3) picked up her GPAC-leading 13th win, giving up six earned runs while striking out eight in 5.2 innings. Ubben recorded the final four outs.
Already leading 3-0, Boeve hit a two-run double that scored Bosch and Bakke in the second inning. Kramer hit an RBI triple in the third and McKenney drove in Jessica Mouw with a single in the fourth. After DWU cut the Northwestern lead to 7-5, Strasser hit a two-run triple and later scored after a Kramer single to go back in front 10-5 in the sixth.
Dakota Wesleyan totaled 16 hits, led by Stephanie Gabel and Adrianna Thomason with three hits each. Kylie Ramirez took the loss, giving up six runs in 2.1 innings.
