BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Northeastern State fell in two encounters today with Wayne State (9-1) and Truman State (18-17) taking place at Memorial Park Saturday afternoon.
In the early game, the Wildcats scored five unanswered over the second and third innings to take a commanding early lead. A
Brynn Burchfield double allowed NSU (3-5) to close the advantage to four, but WSC pushed the contest out of reach with a three-run sixth and another score in the final frame.
Five different NSU players finished with a base hit apiece, while
Elisha Stilwell finished with four strikeouts in relief of
Korynn Tindel, who made her first career start in the circle.
The late game had no shortage of big plays from the bats, as a combined 35 runs made it home. After both sides scored one in the opening inning, a three-run second was countered by a nine-run explosion from Truman State. Another strong showing with a five-run fourth frame from the Bulldogs meant NSU faced a sizable nine-run differential (17-8) with three to play.
Tindel and Stilwell were solid in relief, pitching the last 4.1 innings following
Madison Heinle and allowing only two earned runs across the span of time. NSU scored seven runs over the fifth and sixth but could not find a last push to finish the comeback.
Amid the woes for the RiverHawks in the late matchup included six errors and a rough start for Heinle, who allowed ten base hits and nine earned runs against one strikeout.
Allison Zanca provided a bright spot for the offense with four base hits, while
Addy Wolfe went three-of-four and scored four runs. Wolfe, Zanca, Stilwell, Heinle and
Maddie Messenger provided home runs, while plate discipline was a major factor in the 17-run result for NSU, as wel1, drawing 11 walks.
Northeastern State continues the non-conference schedule with the Edmond Regional Festival next week.
