ALVA, Okla. – SWOSU Softball salvaged the split on Tuesday with Northwestern after bouncing back from a 10-8 loss in game one with a 12-0 thumping of the Rangers in the series finale. The Bulldogs finished the day with 20 runs on 25 hits – earning their first run-rule victory of the season in the process.   
 
The Bulldogs will return home this weekend to play host to Ouachita in more Great American Conference action. Friday's slate against the Tigers is set to get underway at 2 pm, while Saturday will begin at 11 am in Weatherford.     
 
Game One
NWOSU 10, SWOSU 8
Box Score (html)
 
An unearned run and an RBI double from Allyson Gafford erased SWOSU's early 2-0 deficit in the third inning, and the Dawgs took the lead an inning later with three unearned runs. The Bulldogs led for the middle innings, but could not hold on and eventually fell to the Rangers in game one.  
 
SWOSU led 5-2 in the fourth inning and 8-5 after the top of the sixth inning, but hot Northwestern hitting in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference. The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in that sixth inning and used that momentum to plate the game-tying and go-ahead runs – scoring five runs on five hits in the frame.
 
Four of SWOSU's 12 hits in the game went for extra bases, including two doubles off of the bat from Sidney Kirk who finished 3-for-4.  Hannah Franklin, Hannah Morris, and Kinsey Skroh all added two hits apiece. Despite 12 hits from the Bulldog side, Northwestern outhit the Dawgs with 14 knocks themselves.
 
Rileigh Ricken got the start in the circle and threw 5.0 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) and nine hits. Kaytlin Donaldson (L, 1-4) came on in relief in the sixth inning and surrendered five runs and picked up the loss.  
 
Game Two
SWOSU 12, NWOSU 0
Box Score (html)
 
The offense didn't skip a beat in game two, applying pressure to Northwestern early and often. SWOSU scored runs in every inning in the contest and notched 13 hits in the process.
 
In the second inning, an Amanda Moreno RBI double and two-run home run from Kinsey Skroh gave SWOSU a 5-0 lead. That lead nearly doubled an inning later after Rileigh Ricken got in on the action with a two-run home run herself that was two of four runs the Dawgs scored in the fourth.
 
More runs in the fourth and fifth innings got the Dawgs into run-rule territory, and SWOSU finished the job on defense by holding the Rangers scoreless throughout the game.
 
Miranda Grover went the distance in the circle, throwing 5.0 innings of shutout softball. She did not record a strikeout, but scattered just two hits and walked two NWOSU hitters.
 
Eight of the nine starters in the lineup recorded at least one hit, led by Moreno with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate and Skroh and Hannah Franklin who added two hits each.