NDSU Softball Splits First Day in Hattiesburg

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – North Dakota State softball picked up a split on day one of the Golden Eagle Classic, falling to host Southern Miss 10-2 before defeating Maryland Eastern Shore 13-2 at the University of Southern Miss Softball Complex.
 
In game one, Southern Miss jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. After Chloe Woldruff answered back with an RBI triple in the top of the second, the Golden Eagles scored three more runs to extend the lead to 6-1.
 
Following another run by Southern Miss in the third, Jessica Delatorre hit her first career home run with a solo shot to left in the top of the fourth. The Golden Eagles would then add three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to trigger a run-rule victory.
 
Addie Bowers picked up the loss, allowing five runs, two earned, in an inning of work. Savy Williams pitched 3.2 innings, also allowing five runs, two earned. Star Cortez and Zoe King joined Woldruff and Delatorre with the only hits of the game for the Bison.
 
The Bison started strong in game two of the day, as Bella Dean hit her team-leading fifth home run of the season in the top of the first to put NDSU in front. Maryland Eastern Shore answered back with two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game, but NDSU would plate six runs in the top of the third and never looked back.
 
After Amai Hanta scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the third, Dean picked up her third RBI of the game with a double. The Bison would then load the bases, setting up back-to-back two-RBI singles from Chloe Woldruff and Ava Chavarria to extend the NDSU lead to 8-2.
 
In the fourth inning, the Bison recorded back-to-back two-out RBI, as Savannah Henzler recorded an RBI single to score Rylee Henderson, before scoring on a King double. Dean would add her fourth RBI of the game on a groundout to start the scoring in the fifth inning. Following a wild pitch that allowed Cortez to score, Delatorre picked up an RBI single to extend the Bison lead to 13-2.
 
Piper Reed picked up the complete game victory, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts. All nine Bison in the starting lineup reached safely in the game, with eight of the nine recording at least one hit. Henzler and Woldruff joined Dean with two hits each.
 
The Bison will be back in action on Saturday, with just one game scheduled at the University of Southern Miss Softball Complex following some changes due to forecasted weather. The Bison will play Maryland Eastern Shore, as scheduled, at 10 a.m. However, the 12:30 p.m. match up against Southern Miss has been pushed to Sunday at the same time, following a 10 a.m. game against Maryland Eastern Shore.