Senior Grace Lucka fired seven shutout innings in the opener while WSC scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to win 5-1 at Northwest Missouri State Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference softball doubleheader in Maryville, Missouri.  The host Bearcats stormed back in the nightcap for an 8-0 win to earn a split of the twinbill.  The Wildcats are now 29-20 overall while NMSU is 21-26.
            The opener was scoreless through seven innings as Wildcat starter Grace Lucka and Bearcat starter Erika Gore fired seven scoreless innings to send the contest into extra innings.
            Both teams scored once on the international tiebreaker in the eighth.  Jordyn Klein was placed on second to start the WSC eighth, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch.
            The Bearcats also scored in the bottom of the eighth and had runners on second and third with two outs but Wildcat reliever Samantha Felt got NMSU to groundout to end the inning.
            In the ninth, WSC opened with Kennadi Borngrebe reaching on an error on a sacrifice bunt and Taylor Coleman followed with a two-run double for the first two runs.  Later in the inning, senior outfielder Lauren Laudick blasted a two-run homer to give the 'Cats a 5-1 lead.
            Felt then retired all three batters in the bottom of the ninth and the 'Cats won 5-1 in nine innings.
            WSC had seven hits in the game.  Jordyn Rochholz and Leah Chance were both 2 for 3 with Rochholz recording a double.  Laudick added a two-run homer while Coleman had a two-run double.
            Lucka worked seven innings in the circle and did not allow a run, giving up eight hits with one strikeout.  Felt pitched the final two innings and notched the win, now 6-5 on the season.  She allowed one hit and one unearned run.
            The second game saw the host Bearcats limit the Wildcats to just three hits as Northwest Missouri State salvaged a split of the doubleheader with an 8-0 victory in six innings.
            Northwest Missouri State scored two runs in the second, four in the fourth and two more in the sixth.
            Borngrebe, Coleman and Laudick each singled for WSC in the second game.
            Borngrebe (13-7) suffered the pitching loss, charged with six runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings with one strikeout.  Felt worked the final 1 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on two hits. 
            The Wildcats close out the NSIC regular season on the road this weekend visiting Winona State Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by a 12 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at Concordia-St. Paul.