TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State softball team lost 9-7 to Wisconsin-Parkside in a 10-inning showdown Monday morning on the final day of the 4th Annual NSU Softball Festival at RiverHawks Park.
 
The RiverHawks (10-5) ended the tournament with a 3-2 record, while the Rangers improved to 2-7 overall on the season. The contest was the longest for NSU since a 1-0 win over Cameron on Feb. 26, 2012 also took 10 frames.
 
Junior Ryan Martin led NSU with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate. She used her team-leading fourth home run of the season to finish with four RBI and one run scored. Fellow junior Madison Boyd went 2-for-5.
 
UW-Parkside outhit NSU 16-11.
 
Northeastern State led 2-1 after two frames, but the Rangers were able to play to a 3-3 tie after five complete.
 
Neither team scored in the last two innings, so extra sessions were called upon to decide proceedings.
 
Both teams pushed across one run in the eighth, but sophomore Jessica Boone popped into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. The RiverHawks threatened again in the ninth, but the Rangers were able to turn another double play. The visitors had two DP's in the game, and they both occurred in extra innings.
 
Wisconsin-Parkside then exploded for five runs in the top of the 10th, and NSU was only able to respond with three.
 
Senior Kayce Wooldridge (6-2) tossed all 10.0 innings, which was two more frames than she had ever thrown in her four-year career. She tied her career high with eight strikeouts, but she also issued five walks and gave up nine runs (seven earned) on 16 hits. She threw a career-high 188 pitches, and her previous single-game high was just 135.
 
Carly Dundee (1-4) picked up her first win of the season after also throwing a complete game. She gave up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits. She used 162 pitches to record four strikeouts and four walks.
 
Madison Manders, Kellie Fenza and Emily Bell all had three hits for Wisconsin-Parkside. Raegan Fingerman was just 1-for-6, but her one hit was a grand slam in the top of the 10th. Fenza, Paige Schmittling and Rachel Seefeldt all scored twice.
 
Northeastern State will now travel to Joplin, Missouri, for the 2016 Teri Mathis Zenner Memorial. NSU is scheduled to meet McKendree and Sioux Falls on Feb. 27 before taking on Drury and Rockhurst on Feb. 28.
 
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