Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn. – The Northwestern College softball team continued its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) season indoors on Tuesday morning, splitting doubleheader with the College of St. Scholastica. The opening game saw the Eagles fall 3-7 before they rebounded to take the second game 3-2.

After St. Scholastica put the first run on the board in the bottom of the first inning, NWC countered with two runs of its own after Megan VanHulzen (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center) sent a double to left center. Lauren Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) next got on the bases after an error sent her to second, bringing her teammate in for the first Eagle run of the game. Molly Johnsen (Floodwood, Minn./Floodwood) was the next batter to earn a hit, sending her ball to left field and letting Young round the bases, providing Northwestern with a 2-1 advantage heading into the bottom of the second.

The third inning proved to be the turning point in the contest, as the Saints rattled off three runs of one hit and two errors, gaining back both the lead and momentum. The Purple and Gold responded in the fifth, as Briana Rodgers (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) kicked the inning off with a center field single, followed by another Young hit, cutting the margin to 3-4. The next round of CSS at-bats saw the home team on the scoreboard pick up more momentum, increasing the advantage to 6-3, before finally tabbing its last run in the bottom of the sixth. The Eagles forced one hit in their last at-bat but were unable to get any momentum rolling, leaving the final score at 3-7.

The next game saw Northwestern pick up the first lead, as Young continued her successful day at the plate, sending a single to left center. Morgan Pfaff (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) pushed her teammate to third after drawing a St. Scholastica error. Young reached home courtesy of an Anna Schurch (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) run batted in (RBI), putting the visitors up 1-0 in the second.
St. Scholastica matched the score in the next half-inning, and would later double the total in the third after earning one hit.
Cue the top of the fourth, and the Northwestern offense started rolling, as VanHulzen sent a ball down the right line, closely followed by a another Young hit, which allowed VanHulzen to land home. Schurch added her part to the run, bringing in Young with a two-baser of her own.

The lead would hold strong through late pressure from the Saints, as two runners were left on base in the bottom of the seventh. Two CSS' singles sandwiched a stolen base, before Johnsen picked up the final strikeout of the contest with runners on second and third, leaving the final score at 3-2 in favor of NWC.

Schurch notched the credit for the win after allowing just two runs in five innings of play, while Johnsen added five strikeouts in the final two innings to the overall team performance.

Northwestern (8-14 overall, 4-4 UMAC) is next scheduled to play on Wednesday, in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at North Central University. The Eagles last faced the Rams on Monday, April 8, with NWC winning 8-0.