TOPEKA, Kan. – The Northeastern State softball team defeated Washburn two times Tuesday afternoon at WU Softball Complex.
 
The RiverHawks (17-12, 5-5 MIAA) earned two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association victories to improve to .500 in league play this season. NSU's first two true road wins of the season dropped the Ichabods to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
 
Northeastern State won the first game by a comfortable 6-1 margin before clinging to a 3-2 triumph in the second contest.
 
Leading the charge for the green and white was senior pitcher Kayce Wooldridge (12-4), who threw all 14.0 innings in the circle to add two more wins to her resume. She now has a school-record 51 career victories and 333 strikeouts.
 
Wooldridge allowed just three runs all day, while conceding 16 hits. She struck out 14 and walked just three on 263 pitches.
 
After her dominant display in the circle, she now leads the MIAA this season in ERA (1.20), wins (12), complete games (16), shutouts (4), innings pitched (117.0), and strikeouts looking (39). She is second in the conference in total strikeouts with a career-high 96.
 
Northeastern State is now slated to take a break from league action when the team plays host to Oklahoma City University in a 2 p.m. doubleheader March 19 at RiverHawks Park.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 6, WASHBURN 1
Northeastern State fell behind 1-0 after the first inning but exploded for five runs in the top of the third to close out the Ichabods in the opening game of the day. The middle of the third frame featured a lengthy lightning delay, which helped spark the NSU offense.
 
The RiverHawks had six hits with two each coming from sophomore Jessica Boone and junior Ryan Martin. Boone hit a two-run home run in the third and also scored twice after missing last week's action due to injury.
 
Wooldridge tied her career high with eight strikeouts, while issuing just one free pass. She allowed nine hits but only a lone run in 7.0 innings. She has now reached eight strikeouts in a game six times in her career.
 
Washburn finished Game 1 with nine hits, led by a pair each from Cassidy Merriman, Erin Keeney and Lacie Myers.
 
Samantha Carson (5-4) took the loss in the circle for the Ichabods after conceding six runs on six hits. She walked five and struck out just four.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 3, WASHBURN 2
A late home run and another stellar effort from Wooldridge would be WU's undoing in the second contest.
 
Haylee Marsteller hit a home run in the fourth to give Washburn a 2-1 lead, which was just Wooldridge's second homer allowed this year. The RiverHawks responded with a two-run home run from sophomore Paige Gann in the sixth to record the comeback victory. The home team left 10 runners on base, including five in the final two frames.
 
Wooldridge allowed two runs, which both came on Marsteller's homer. She gave up seven hits and two walks, while striking out six.
 
WU outhit NSU 7-4, and the four Northeastern State hits were scattered between Gann, senior Megan Ewton, redshirt freshman Haley Acrey and true freshman Kyla Ibarra. No Ichabod had more than one hit.
 
Ashley Wills (3-6) threw all 7.0 innings to take the loss for the home team. She conceded three runs on four hits, while striking out five and walking zero.

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