Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 - Wayne State 7 Sioux Falls 5

Game 2 - Sioux Falls 5 Wayne State 2

            Wayne State College used 19 hits in the opener to post a 7-5 win at Sioux Falls, but saw the host Cougars snap a 2-2 tie with three runs in the sixth inning of the second game for a 5-2 win over the Wildcats in Northern Sun Conference softball played Tuesday afternoon at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The Wildcats are now 8-30 and 2-12 in the NSIC while the host Cougars are 21-18 and 8-6 in league play.
            The opener saw WSC pound out 19 hits, the most in a single game since April 14, 2015 at Sioux Falls, as the Wildcats held on for a 7-5 win over the Cougars.
            Wayne State built a 5-0 lead after 2 ½ innings.  The 'Cats scored in the first on Jordyn Breitbarth's sacrifice fly.  Melanie Alyea delivered a two-run double in the second for a 3-0 lead while Blair Shanks and Monique Alyea had run-scoring singles in the third for a 5-0 Wildcat advantage.
            Sioux Falls got back in the game with a four-run bottom of the third to trim the WSC cushion to 5-4.
            Melanie Alyea had another two-run double in the fifth inning to push the Wildcat lead to 7-4. 
            The Cougars rallied in the seventh inning and had the game-winning run on first base before reliever Nataliah Hopkins got the final two outs as USF left the bases loaded and WSC prevailed with a 7-5 win.
            WSC finished with 19 hits in the win as every position player had at least one hit.  Melanie Alyea finished 4 for 5 with two doubles and four RBI.  Monique Alyea was 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored while Katelyn Wobken was 3 for 5 with a triple and run scored.
            Abbie Hix, Jenna Stewart and Blair Shanks each went 2 for 4 with two singles apiece.
            Sophomore Riley Vanderveen (1-10) registered her first win of the season, pitching 6 1/3 innings.  She was charged with five runs and had one walk with no strikeouts.  Hopkins came on in relief in the seventh and retired both batters she faced to collect her first save of the season.
            The second game saw the host Cougars score three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap a 2-2 tie as Sioux Falls gained a split in the doubleheader with a 5-2 win.
            USF took a 1-0 lead in the first, but WSC tied the score in the top of the third when Wobken was hit by a pitch and later scored on Monique Alyea's single to centerfield.
            WSC took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Melanie Alyea doubled and scored on a Rachel Shumaker double.
            The Cougars knotted the score at 2-2 with one run in the fifth and took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run homer followed by an RBI single for a 5-2 lead.
            Sioux Falls held an 11-7 edge in hits on WSC.  Shumaker finished 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI followed by Melanie Alyea going 2 for 4 with a double and run scored.  Wobken, Monique Alyea and Alyssa Schropp each singled.
            Hopkins (7-17) was tagged with the pitching loss, allowing five runs on 11 hits in six innings of work with four walks and one strikeout.
            The Wildcats will be on the road this weekend for NSIC doubleheaders at MSU Moorhead Friday at 1 p.m. and Northern State Saturday at 12 p.m.