DULUTH, Minn. – After making a furious sixth-inning rally to take a 6-5 lead, the University of Northwestern softball team (20-21) dropped a 7-6 extra-inning heartbreaker to the University of Wisconsin-Superior (25-12) in the opening round of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament at Kenwood Field.

The Eagles, who are the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will now play the loser of Thursday's second game in the double-elimination tournament Friday at noon in Duluth.

The third-seeded Yellowjackets opened the scoring early, scoring a combined five runs in the first two innings to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

The Eagles chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the fifth, plating two runs on RBI singles from Megan Threlkeld (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) and Jennifer Ankrom (New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton).

Trailing 5-2 in the sixth, UNW mounted its comeback bid, scoring four runs in the frame to jump on top, 6-5. Ann Lokke (St. Francis, Minn./St. Francis) and Jennifer Ankrom (New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton) highlighted the scoring with RBI base knocks.

UWS pushed a run across in the seventh to even the score at 6-6 and the contest headed to extra innings.

After the Yellowjackets scored a run in the top of the eighth, the Eagles loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning with no outs, but were unable to drive any runs in, falling 7-6.  

Ann Lokke (St. Francis, Minn./St. Francis) went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the offensive attack, while Jennifer Ankrom (New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton), Mindy Forcier (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) and Kaylee Forcier (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley Watkins) all posted two hits apiece.

Despite her stellar relief appearance, Meghan Schroeder (Big Lake, Minn./Spectrum)(8-7) was tagged with the loss. She didn't allow an earned run in six innings of work in the circle.

Fans can find additional updates on the UMAC Tournament here.