TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State won two with the long ball in a marathon doubleheader sweep over Washburn on Tuesday afternoon. 

Jess Schuler hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth to give NSU a 6-5 win and then Sierra Crick blasted a walk-off in the 11th inning to pick up a 9-6 victory.

Both contests featured four run comebacks with dominate performances by Mollie Carter and Jennifer Wolf who came in during the first inning.  Additionally, in the nightcap, the seldom used international tiebreaker went into effect where a runner is placed on second base to start each half of the inning.

The 11 inning game was NSU's longest since Feb 26, 2011 where the RiverHawks won 4-3 at Arkansas Tech.

"Really proud of our team," said head coach Clay Davis.  "After going down four in both games we didn't panic and were able to chip away at the lead."

"We had two gutsy performances by seniors Mollie Carter and Jennifer Wolf….to come and pitch the way they did.  It was complete team effort in both games and to get two game winning home runs by freshman is exciting moving forward."

In the opener, Washburn jumped ahead in the opening frame on a grand slam before NSU's Haley Acrey hit a three-run shot over the left field scoreboard in bottom half of the inning to get back within a run.

Acrey came through for the RiverHawks later in the game and in the fifth with a big two-out double with two on to take a 5-4 lead.   However, in the next frame Washburn tied the game with a solo shot to left.

With a tie game in the sixth, Jess Schuler came in with two outs and on the second pitch she jetted the ball over the center field fence to give NSU a 6-5 lead.

The Ichabods (10-15, 0-4 MIAA) went down in order to in the seventh with Carter (1-0) in the circle.  Carter came in with two outs in the first and only gave up three hits, and one run for the victory

Northeastern State had eight hits with Paige Gann and Acrey both having two.

In the nightcap, Washburn hit through their lineup and went up four on NSU.  The RiverHawks in the bottom half of the frame used two WU errors to plate a pair without needing a hit. 

Play settled out until the fourth where back-to-back singles led to a Kaleigh Hinkle two RBI double to tie the game. 

From there scoring came to a halt until the international tiebreaker rule kicked in during the tenth inning.  Washburn went up 5-4 in their half and Paige Gann opened the bottom half with a RBI double.  NSU got the winning run at third but a fly out ended the inning.

In the eleventh, the Ichabods doubled in the go-ahead run with one out to retake the lead.  The RiverHawks played small-ball in their half with a sac bunt to move the placed runner to third and then a WU error at third put runners on the corners.  Jessica Boone evened the game at six on a single up the middle to put two on for Crick who then hit a first pitch over the left field scoreboard for the winner.

Wolf (1-3) went 10 2/3 innings with ten strikeouts for the win.   Northeastern State batters had seven hits with Crick having a three RBI game.

"It's a good feeling starting MIAA play 2-0," added Davis.  "We need to try and carry that momentum into a tough road trip this weekend."

Northeastern State (9-10, 2-0 MIAA) will return to action on Friday at Fort Hays State for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

MIAA HITTER OF THE WEEK:  After being honored as Fastpitch News' (FPN) NCAA Division II Player of the Week, Paige Gann was also named as MIAA Athlete of the Week on Tuesday by the league office in Kansas City, Mo. 

Gann won the award after hitting five home runs during a five game span for the RiverHawks.  In 15 at-bats, the NSU junior slugged 1.400 and had a .571 on-base percentage.