Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. -- The Northwestern College softball team started the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament off on the right foot, defeating second seeded University of Minnesota Morris 5-3 at Kenwood field in Duluth. Northwestern, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, used a combination of three runs in the second and third inning to take the lead for good and advance to a 4 p.m. matchup against the winner of St. Scholastica and Bethany Lutheran.

Northwestern scored in its first at-bat in the top of the initial frame. After Leighana Nyquist (Cokato, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) walked and Jenna Ruby (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie) (Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Gray Eagle) reached first after being hit by a pitch, Kristin Sigurdsen (Barron, Wis./Barron) singled to left center to score both base runners.

Morris countered with two runs in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of a triple by Heather Briese to even the score at 2-2.

The Eagles continued to score what would be huge runs in the early innings. Ashley Olson (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) (Brainerd, Minn./Baxter) hit a solo home run in the second frame before Ali Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) doubled in the third, scoring Erin Kleinjan (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) and Erin Wankerl (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) (Willmar, Minn./Willmar). The 5-2 lead held heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, when Olson would have to face the Cougars' 7-8-9 hitters.

After walking her first batter, Olson blew pitches past Ally Obernolte and Kaitlyn Randall before giving up a double to Diane Blommel that scored Heidi Miller from first base. Blommel attempted to stretch her double into a triple though, and Nyquist's relay from left field to third was more than on time, and the Eagles breathed a sigh of relief having advanced to the next round of the double elimination tournament.

Olson gave up six hits over seven innings of work as all three of Morris' runs were earned. In the batter's box, Olson and Witthus each had two hits while Witthus and Sigurdsen each recorded a pair of RBI.

Now 19-20 on the season, Northwestern will face either St. Scholastica or Bethany Lutheran at 4 p.m. A win in that game would advance the Eagles to Saturday's championship game, where a loss would put NWC in the loser's bracket, where they would have to win three in a row to claim the tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.