TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State softball continues into the third week of MIAA play with their second straight week at home, featuring tests against Newman on Friday and #16 Central Oklahoma on Saturday. Both doubleheaders have a 4 p.m. start for game one and a 6 p.m. start for game two.

The RiverHawks (18-11, 5-3 MIAA) enter after splitting both of last week's doubleheaders against MoWest and Northwest Missouri. In her first week of action since February, Halle Hance was a bright spot for the offense with seven hits and four RBI. Meanwhile, Madison Nance was explosive in the Friday stretch against the Griffons, hitting a pair of home runs with six RBI.

In the circle, Jensyn Elder provided seven strikeouts last week and had a winning start on Saturday after recording her first save of the season on Friday. Additionally, Aubree Saporito only had one run of damage against her across three appearances, including a winning credit on Friday against the Griffons.

Newman (4-22, 0-4 MIAA) still searches for their first conference win of the Brittany Henning era, entering the week with eight straight losses. The Jets have lost 14 straight true road games, with their last win occurring on Feb. 15, 2025 against East Central in Ada, Okla. Their last road conference win was on Apr. 27, 2024 against Missouri Southern. The RiverHawks hold a 16-3 lead in the all-time series and are 7-0 in Tahlequah.

Henning formerly played softball at Oklahoma and competed on a Sooners team that won the 2016 Women's College World Series. She would later transfer to Ole Miss where she was a part of three NCAA Regional appearances and two NCAA Super Regional appearances, as well as an SEC tournament championship run in 2017.

Central Oklahoma (25-6, 3-1 MIAA) will battle Rogers State in Claremore on Friday before traveling to Tahlequah for the Saturday doubleheader. The Bronchos have won three of their first four in conference play, landing in the #16 spot in the most recent NFCA/Go Rout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The Bronchos are eighth nationally in scoring (7.3 runs per game) and tenth in batting average (.352). In the circle, the Bronchos rank 11th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.2) and have held opposing hitters to a .232 batting average. UCO leads the all-time series against NSU (66-33) and have won 10 of the last 11. NSU's lone win in that span occurred in Tahlequah on Apr. 14, 2023 (3-1).