SAN ANTONIO – When North Dakota head softball coach Jordan Stevens called on senior pitcher Nikki Pica to enter Friday's finale as a reliever in the fifth inning, one could probably guess he was not expecting the result he got. The senior pitcher clobbered the first two at-bats of her career for home runs to help lead the Fighting Hawks to a Friday split against Creighton and Incarnate Word to kick off the 2020 season at the H-E-B Classic in San Antonio.
 
Creighton 7, North Dakota 5
A spirited rally fell short in Friday's opener against BIG EAST Conference foe Creighton, as the Bluejays struck for six runs in the middle innings to post a 7-5 triumph.
 
Angel Love provided the spark on offense for the Fighting Hawks, driving in a pair of runs on a two-run homer and collecting two hits in four at-bats. Victoria Minor also racked up two hits and scored a run to pace UND's seven hits on the afternoon.
 
The newcomers shined in the circle in the opener, as Lexi Flom and Lauren Feld allowed only one run over three innings of work in relief of starter Jannay Jones. Jones, who finished near the top in ERA last season in the league, surrendered six runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings to be saddled with her first loss of the season.
 
After a pair of early escapes by Jones in the first two innings, Creighton took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third with back-to-back RBI singles before adding four more runs in the next frame. The lead nearly went towards UND, with the green and white placing runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth, but could not scratch any runs across.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, UND broke through with a five-run outburst to cut the deficit to one. Love started the scoring with a two-run home run to left field to bring home herself and Minor before back-to-back hits by Ashlynn Uvila and Dani Romero placed runners on first and second for Madison Peterson. After a walk to the freshman, Alicia Young cleared the bases with a shot to left field that deflected off the defender's glove and allowed three to score and Young to reach third base with only one away. The Hawks were unable to bring the tying run home, however, trailing 6-5 heading into the final inning.
 
Creighton added a seventh run and held off UND in the bottom half of the frame to close out the 7-5 win.
 
North Dakota 6, Incarnate Word 5 (8)
In the first extra-inning contest of the season, UND struck for three runs in the top of the eighth inning and held off a late charge from the hosts to post a 6-5 win over Incarnate Word to close out Friday's action.
 
Pica was a force with the bat in the first two at-bats of her career, launching a pair of home runs to help lead the Hawks to victory. The senior first tied the game at three in the top of the sixth to send the game to extras before giving UND the lead with a two-run shot in the top of the eighth. She also was strong in the circle, firing 2.2 innings of relief where she allowed just two hits and an earned run to collect her first win.
 
Love polished off her strong day with another multi-RBI performance, as the senior drove in two on two hits and scored a run. Alexys Campos added a pair of hits, the first of her career, while Cassie Castaneda drove in her first RBI as a collegiate player with a double.
 
Freshman Lauren Feld made the first start of her collegiate career against the Cardinals, earning the no-decision after 4.2 innings of work. The rookie allowed only three runs, one earned, five hits, and struck out three.
 
Similar to the earlier contest, UND fell behind early as UIW jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After that, however, scoring came hard to come by with both pitchers locking down opposing hitters.
 
The Hawks started to get the rally going in the top of the fifth, plating a pair of runs on a two-out hit from Love to take a 2-1 lead. The visitors earned that lead with some small ball, as a hit by pitch and a pair of sacrifice bunts led to the clutch single from Love.
 
After the Cardinals regained the lead, 3-2, in the bottom half of the fifth, Coach Stevens opted to let Pica swing the bat for the first time in her career to open the sixth. Pica cracked a solo shot just over the wall in center to give UND to tie the game at three and send it into extra innings.
 
In extras, Pica did it again with the bat, driving another ball over the wall, this time in right field, to bring home two runs and put the Hawks in front, 5-3. Just three batters later, Castaneda drove home Young with an RBI double into left center to extend the lead to three with just three outs to get.
 
Incarnate Word threatened to tie the game in the bottom half of the stanza, quickly striking for two runs and loading the bases with only one out, forcing UND to turn to Jones to try to get the final pair of outs. It only took the sophomore one pitch, inducing a 1-5-3 double play to seal the win for the Fighting Hawks.
 
North Dakota returns to action tomorrow with a pair of showdowns against Incarnate Word and Texas Southern.