Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
The Nebraska Wesleyan softball team opened the Great Plains Athletic Conference portion of the their schedule on Saturday (Mar. 22) with a pair of exciting one-run games at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

NWU won the first game 4-3, then Northwestern got a walk off home run to win game two 3-2 in nine innings.  Nebraska Wesleyan is 6-6 overall and 1-1 in GPAC play, while Northwestern sits at 13-11, 1-1 GPAC.

Nebraska Wesleyan got on the board first in game one as Rachel Kubik hit an RBI single in the top of the first.  Northwestern scored one run in the second and third inning to take a 2-1 lead.  NWU regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning as starting pitcher Chaley Hamilton hit a 2-run single driving in Kubik and Betsy Reimer.

NWU added an insurance run in the seventh inning as Marisa Garver drove in Britni Eitzmann with a single.  It was a needed insurance run as Northwestern scored a run in the bottom of the seventh on a walk with the bases loaded.  The bases remained loaded as Hamilton got Alex Price to foul out to the third baseman to end the game.

Hamilton got the complete game win allowing two earned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts.  Betsey Reimer had two hits to lead the NWU offense which finished with six total hits.

In the second game, NWU jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning as Kassie Knauss hit a double to left field driving in Becky Bomberger and Lakyn Mau.  Northwestern tied the game in the bottom of the third inning scoring two runs.

Neither team could score the rest of the way to force extra innings.  Both teams were held without a run in the eighth inning, sending the game to another inning.  NWU was retired in order in the top of the 9th, then Kourtni Robinson led off the ninth with a walk-off home run for the Red Raiders.

NWU had six hits in the second game as well with Bomberger going 2-3.  Hamilton pitched the entire second game allowing just one earned run in eight innings with eight strikeouts.