Box Score 1  I  Box Score 2

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State softball team lost two games to Washburn at RiverHawks Park Tuesday afternoon.

The RiverHawks (12-14, 4-6 MIAA) lost to Washburn (13-8, 5-3 MIAA) 13-1 in five innings before falling 6-5 in game two when their late inning rally fell short.  

Freshman Jessica Boone (2-for-7) and junior Megan Ewton (2-for-5) both hit home runs in the second game. Senior Alli Eales (2-for-6), senior Alyssa Aguilar (2-for-6) and freshman Bailey Applegate each had two hits on the day. Sophomore Madison Boyd, freshman Paige Gann and sophomore Ryan Martin all recorded hits.

Northeastern State will next host Arkansas Tech in a nonconference doubleheader March 25. The first game is set to begin at 1 p.m. at RiverHawks Park.

WASHBURN 13, NORTHEASTERN STATE 1 (5 innings)
The Ichabods jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Washburn added eight more runs in the third inning on six hits, including a two-run home run for Jordan Erickson. WU added an additional insurance run in the top of the fifth inning on the Ichadbod's third home run of the game.

The RiverHawks struggled to hit WU pitcher Lauren Thimmesch (9-1), but were able to get one run back in the bottom of the fifth on an Applegate RBI triple. NSU was unable to muster any more runs and fell in a run-rule shortened game 13-1.

Junior Kayce Wooldridge (6-6) took the loss for the RiverHawks. She threw 2.2 innings and conceded 11 runs (eight earned) on nine hits. Sophomore Krissy Crow threw 2.1 innings in relief, giving up two runs on two hits.

WASHBURN 6, NORTHEASTERN STATE 5
Northeastern State tightened up the defense in the second game, holding the Ichabods scoreless through four innings. The RiverHawks took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jessica Boone hit her first career home run to straight-away center field.

WU responded in the fifth inning, pushing across six runs on seven hits to take the lead.

The RiverHawks got one run back in the bottom half of the inning on an Eales RBI single. The green and white further closed the gap to 6-5 in the sixth inning when Ewton hit a three-run homer, forcing the Ichabods to make a pitching change and bring Thimmesch back in. NSU was unable to bring across any more runs and saw its late inning rally fall short as they fell to Washburn 6-5.

Senior Laura Fleck (2-2) took the loss in the circle for the RiverHawks. She allowed six runs on 13 hits in 7.0 innings pitched. Fleck struck out five and walked one.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH CLAY DAVIS
Initial statement…
"I thought in the second game we did a good job of battling back. Especially after how the first game went, we could have just rolled over, but we did a good job of battling. The young kids are continuing to get better at the plate and have good approaches. We just need to stop putting ourselves in big holes. We need to play sound defense and hit our spots while pitching."
 
On having time off before the next games…
"We have a few kids who are banged up, so we'll take a few days to get our minds and bodies right. We'll get ready for this big push coming down the stretch. We'll play our nonconference game with Arkansas Tech next Tuesday, which should give us a chance to get back in the groove of things before we head to Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney for four big MIAA games."
 
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