MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The University of North Dakota softball team dropped an 11-2 decision in six innings at Alabama State on Wednesday evening from Montgomery.
The Hornets (4-15) used a seven-run fourth inning to break open a 2-2 tie before tacking on a pair of run in the bottom of the sixth to force the game to be called due to the run rule and halt UND's (6-9) winning streak at two.
Lauren Feld earned the start for the Fighting Hawks in the circle and worked three solid innings before running into trouble in that fourth frame. The sophomore allowed just four hits and struck out three, but four walks and a pair of errors by the UND defense proved to be the difference as she dropped to 1-2 on the season.
Jannay Jones worked the final innings in relief, allowing four earned runs in 2.1 frames.
UND pounded out seven hits, with six of them coming from the top-five spots in the order.
Madison Pederson, fresh off a monster pair of games against Florida A&M, led the way with another multi-hit contest while
Madi Moore drove in a run with an RBI.
Alexys Campos,
Izzy Haslett,
Chevelle Sartin and
Ashlynn Uvila also all tallied hits for the green and white, with four of those hits being doubles.
It didn't take long for UND to get it going, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. A leadoff double to left center by Campos immediately put a runner in scoring position, but back-to-back popups nearly left her stranded. Moore came through with two outs, however, lacing a single into right field for the RBI and the early advantage.
After Feld worked around a jam in the bottom of the frame, the offense got right back to work in the next half inning. An error allowed
Caitlyn Shumaker to reach and advance to third before a pitch to the ensuing batter sailed over the catcher's head to score the freshman and double the UND lead.
ASU tied the game at two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, and UND nearly bounced back in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back singles to start the stanza by Pederson and Uvila began what looked to be a promising inning, but UND could not get anything on the board. That came back to bite the visitors, as the Hornets exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the frame to jump in front, 9-2, after four.
The Hawks put runners on in each ensuing turn at the plate, but could not chip into the ASU lead before the hosts added a final pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game with an 11-2 victory.
North Dakota returns to action on Friday for a contest against Winthrop and Mercer.
