ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern's Softball team remained undefeated in conference play after winning the first two games of the UMAC Series of the Week against the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars on Thursday afternoon. Northwestern won the first game with a shutout of 4-0 and won the second game with a score of 9-5.

GAME 1:

In the first game of the double header, Northwestern held Morris scoreless through seven innings. Right away, UNW was tested by the resilient Cougars. Morris prolonged the game through their at-bats, giving them hope for a comeback. The Eagles won the battle at the plate and in the field as they held on to a 4-0 victory to move to 4-0 in the conference. 

The only runs of the first game were scored in the bottom of fourth inning. Like usual, Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) jump-started her team with a bunt to get on base. Hannah Storey's (Big Lake, Minn./Monticello) hit caused the defense problems, as there were two errors on the play to advance Storey to second base and push Gee to third. Batting cleanup, Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit a sacrifice fly to allow Gee to speed home for the opening run. Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) drove Storey home with a single to center field. On fire, Kate Trump (Faribault, Minn/Bethlehem Academy) hit a massive double to bring in 2 RBI for the fourth and final run of the game.

In a low-scoring game, the Eagles' defense led the way to another shutout. Behind the arm of Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian), reigning UMAC Pitcher of the Week, the Eagles went three and out in four of the seven innings, and stayed composed to find the third outs with runners on third and second in the other three innings. Leading up to the four-run 4th inning, Heffron threw a three pitch inning en route to three very quick outs in the top of the fourth. The momentum clearly rolled over to the offensive front in the bottom of the inning.

Trump and Lane led the Eagles in game one. Trump drove in two runs, going 1-2 at the plate, while Lane notched one RBI. Heffron pitched all seven innings, allowing no runs. She struck out three batters, gave up only one hit, and walked four batters.

GAME 2:

The second game started much faster than the first, as the Eagles scored twice in the opening frame. Lani Schoper (Madison Lake, Minn./Mankato West) and Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) both received four balls to get on base. Schoper stole second and advanced to third after an error. Storey pinch ran for Iverson and also stole second. Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) smashed a 2 RBI single up the middle of the field to score both Schoper and Storey. The Cougars responded with a run of their own in the top of the second to keep the red-hot Eagles within reach.

UNW threatened in the second, but came up empty handed by the third out. The bottom of the third inning seemed to be headed in the same direction with a single and two outs through the first three batters. However, UNW battled here to score five runs by the close of the inning. Trump singled through the 4-6 gap to move Iverson to second base. Up next, senior Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) lifted a ball deep to left field just outside of the foul line. With excitement in the dugout and a change of her line, Beer rocketed the next pitch out to the fence in center field to score both runners. Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) came up to bat next and finessed a bunt and stolen base before the next pitch was thrown. After making it to second, Terry was on base for roughly 24 seconds before another bunt off the bat of Gee, gave her enough time to sprint home. Gee's wheels kept her safe as she beat out the throw to first. UNW had one more run before the close of the inning, and it came from Lane, who hit a beautiful drive right down the left line. Gee scored all the way from first as Lane received the double and the RBI.

Both teams put up zeros in the scoring column for the 5th and 6th innings. Morris ended the scoring droughts with a huge 3 RBI home run to bring the deficit down to three. The bottom of the inning brought two more runs for UNW after a double from Iverson scored both Schoper and Lane to move the score to 9-4. Morris scored the final run in the 7th inning, but Northwestern stalled any hope of a comeback after Summers caught the final out.

Iverson and Terry both were 2-3 from the plate. Iverson tallied two RBI, as did Summers, Gee, and Beer, while Terry stole three bases. Gee and Lane went 2-4 at the plate. Lane recorded a double and an RBI. Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover) went the length in the circle for UNW and only gave up one earned run. She struck out four batters and walked 2. Bottineau is leading the team and the conference with the lowest ERA of 1.27 on the season.

The Eagles will be back in action at home against Morris for the final game of the series on Friday, March 28, starting at noon.