LEESBURG, Fla. -- The University of North Dakota softball team split a pair of contests in the second day of action at THE Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla., dropping the day's opener to Toledo before rebounding with a 6-5 win over Central Michigan. 

It was a long day for the Fighting Hawks (4-6), who began the day at 9 a.m. against the Rockets, but a weather delay halted the game in the first inning before it was allowed to resume at 4 p.m. The green and white then closed Saturday against CMU with a start around 7 p.m.

Toledo 5, North Dakota 4
Despite a trio of hits from Chevelle Sartin and another pair from Madi Moore, UND couldn't rally from a two-run deficit in a 5-4 loss to Toledo to open the day of play. Sartin was spraying hits all over the field for the Hawks, tallying a trio of them that led her scoring three of the team's four runs and driving in the other in the contest. 

The top of the order did a lot of the damage alongside Sartin, with Ashlynn Uvila and Madison Pederson each collecting a hit and RBI while Jocelyn Kirk brought in the other run. Overall, it was a much better day at the plate for UND as opposed to Friday's tilt vs. New Mexico State, as the green and white recorded nine hits and drew four walks. 

Jannay Jones made the start, but the weather delay limited her to just 2.1 innings of seven-hit, three-run ball to drop her record to 2-1 this season. Lauren Feld pitched the remainder of the game in relief, striking out seven and allowing only two runs over 4.2 frames of work. 

UND got off to a strong start before the weather took over, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After Alexys Campos drew a walk to begin the stanza, Sartin laced an RBI triple to put the Hawks up 1-0 before Uvila followed right behind with an RBI single of her own to quickly double the advantage. 

After the long delay, Toledo trimmed into the deficit with a run in the top of the second before striking for two more in the top of the third to jump in front, 3-2, after four. Another Rocket run extended the lead to 4-2, but UND started to rally in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff double by Sartin followed by an RBI double from Pederson cut into the advantage and placed the tying run in scoring position, but a caught stealing and strikeout ended the threat. 

Toledo made the Hawks pay in the next half inning with a home run to restore the two-run lead; however, another late rally by UND in the bottom of the seventh nearly tilted the game the other way. Sartin's third extra-base hit of the game, a one-out double, was followed by a two-out walk to Mariah Peters to put the tying run on. Moments later, Kirk rocketed a ball for a double to score Sartin and put the tying and winning runs in scoring position with two away, but UND could not complete the comeback as Toledo held on. 

North Dakota 6, Central Michigan 5
Freshman Caitlyn Shumaker picked a great time for her second hit of her career and first home run, as the rookie laced a ball over the wall in left-center to break a 5-5 tie in the top of the sixth to help UND defeat the Chippewas, 6-5, to close out the day. 

The Hawks settled down from a tough start that saw CMU jump out to a 4-0 lead in the early going by striking for six of the final seven runs of the contest to complete the comeback. 

It was trio of pitchers who got the game home for UND in the winning effort, with Adrianna Dilal earning the start and Lauren Feld coming in relief to earn the win. Nikki Pica closed out the  contest by pitching the final two frames to collect the save. 

Central Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead after an inning of play, but UND looked to shave into the advantage early. A pair of hits, including another by Pederson, put runners of second and third with two outs, but could not get anyone home. The Chips made the Hawks pay with two more runs in the ensuing half inning, but a nice defensive play by Shumaker at third limited the damage to just a 4-0 hole. 

The tide started to turn in the top of the third, when a Campos single was misplayed and allowed her and Alyssa Rios to circle the bases to cut the lead to 4-2. The sophomore drove in the third run of the game in a more traditional way, looping a ball into left field to bring home Moore and make it 4-3 in the top of the fourth. Still batting in the fourth, Sartin kept up her hot day with a drive to left that just missed clearing the fence, but settled for a 2-RBI double to give UND a 5-4 lead after four. 

After CMU tied the game at five in the bottom of the fifth, Shumaker broke the tie with her first-collegiate home run to send the UND dugout into a frenzy and give the Hawks a 6-5 lead. The rookie came up clutch again on the defensive side of the game in the bottom of the stanza, charging a ball hit slowly to third and making a perfect throw to end the inning and stranding runners at the corners. 

Pica sealed the win with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to cap off the Saturday split. 

North Dakota returns to action tomorrow with a pair of contests against Florida Gulf Coast at 9 a.m. and Middle Tennessee State at 11:30 a.m.