ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The (RV) Northwestern College softball team (23-7, 2-4 GPAC) opened the home slate Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader split with the Bulldogs of Concordia University (Neb.) (15-13, 4-4 GPAC). Gwen Mikkelsen tallied her second home run of the season in game two, Kate Kralik picks up her 13th win on the season in the circle.
GAME 1: Concordia 3, (RV) Northwestern 1
The opening game of the doubleheader proved to be a pitching battle, as both sides could only muster seven combined hits.
Scoreless through the first four frames, Erika McKenney (So., Hawarden, Iowa/West Sioux) led off the bottom of the fifth with a double. Kameryn Etherington (So., Algona, Iowa/Algona) would lay down a sacrifice to move her to third. Emily Strasser would bring her in with a sacrifice of her own, to give Northwestern their only run and the 1-0 lead.
With a full count with two outs, runners on second and third, Concordia’s Taylor Glause would go deep to left field, proving to be enough for the Bulldog starter, Camry Moore to finish the deal. Concordia would go on to win the first game, 3-1.
GAME 2: (RV) Northwestern 6, Concordia 4
How It Happened
The Bulldogs struck first in game two in the top of the first. Three straight Concordia hits, after a lead-off double, plated one run. Kate Kralik (Fr., Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) settled down to leave runners stranded on first and second.
After a leadoff walk to Chloe Gallegos (Fr., Carroll, Iowa/Carroll) in the third, head coach Shane Bouman utilized the small ball to manufacture a run to tie the game at 1-1. An error later in the frame would allow Madysn Grotewold (So., Larchwood, Iowa/West Lyon) to score from third.
Concordia would push across another run in the fourth to retake the lead, 2-1. The bats stayed quiet for the Raider through the first three innings, as the first hit would not come until McKenney singled to shortstop in the fourth.
The Raider offense finally broke through on the Bulldog starter in the fifth. A couple of Concordia defensive miscues would setup Jordyn Kramer (Sr., Larchwood, Iowa/West Lyon) with two outs and runners on second and third. She would deliver the biggest hit of the day – just the second of the day at the time – with a single to left field to score two, giving Northwestern the 3-2 lead.
Gwen Mikkelsen (Jr., Casa Grande, Ariz./Mission Heights Prep.) stepped up and blasted a ball over the right field wall to extend the Raider lead to 5-2 in the fifth.
A final insurance run would be scored in the sixth on a Jennifer Boeve (Jr., Hastings, Neb./Hastings) sac bunt RBI, as the Raiders would need it heading to the final frame. Concordia would threaten in the seventh, scoring two but Etherington would enter to stop the bleeding, as the Raiders prevailed 6-4 to end the home opener with a split.
Northwestern will remain at home next Tuesday, April 5 as they welcome the Tigers of Dakota Wesleyan University (9-19, 1-5 GPAC) to Orange City, Iowa for a GPAC doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the Softball Diamond.
