Game 1 - Wayne State 5 Northern State 2

Game 2 - Northern State 3 Wayne State 2

            Freshman Sara Scheffert fired a complete game with 10 strikeouts to help Wayne State earn a Northern Sun Conference softball split Sunday afternoon at Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota as the Wildcats won the opener 5-2 followed by a 3-2 loss in the second game.  WSC is now 13-11 on the season and 1-3 in league play while Northern State is now 11-13 and 2-2 in the NSIC.

            In the opener, freshman pitcher Sara Scheffert settled down after allowing two runs on three hits in the first inning as WSC rallied for a 5-2 win over the Wolves.  Scheffert finished the game with 10 strikeouts and improved to 5-4 on the season with the complete game win.

            Trailing 2-0 entering the third inning, Wayne State's Aeriell Earleywine doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dani Sandel to cut the NSU lead to 2-1.  WSC took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Earleywine doubled again and scored on a Jordan King sacrifice fly followed by a Kaiti Williams RBI single that scored Sandel.  The 'Cats added another run in the sixth inning when Scheffert doubled and scored on a King groundout and WSC scored an insurance run in the seventh when Williams singled and scored on a Kristen Martinson single to make the final score 5-2.

            WSC had nine hits compared to five by Northern State.  Earleywine finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored while Vicki Nielsen and Kaiti Williams each added two hits at the plate.

            The second game saw Northern State hold off a WSC rally in the seventh inning to hang on for a 3-2 win over the Wildcats.  The Wolves scored one run in the second and two in the third to take a 3-0 lead.  The score stayed that way until WSC made things interesting in the seventh inning.

            Ashley Prettyman and Kassie Nurton singled.  With two outs, Dani Sandel tripled to right center field scoring Prettyman and Nurton to make it a 3-2 game.  But the rally ended when Vicki Nielsen popped to third to end the game as the Wolves held on for the 3-2 win.

            WSC outhit Northern State in the contest 9-6.  Sandel finished 3 for 4 with two RBI's to lead the 'Cats in hitting.  Kaiti Williams added two hits in the contest.  Sophomore Jordan Harris (5-4) was tagged with the pitching loss, allowing three runs (all unearned) on five hits in five innings of work with four strikeouts and four walks.  Kelcie Bormann worked the final inning and gave up one hit with one walk and one strikeout. 

            The Wildcats will be at home Tuesday afternoon hosting the University of Sioux Falls in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 2:00 p.m.