VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University of North Dakota softball team split a pair of games on Friday against South Dakota to open a four-game conference slate with the Coyotes in Vermillion. 

UND (11-20, 3-3 Summit League) nearly rallied from a three-run deficit in the opener before slugging a trio of home runs to close out the day with a win to hand the Fighting Hawks their third victory over their last four games. 

G1: South Dakota 4, North Dakota 3
Three runs in the first inning proved to be the difference, as South Dakota (6-25, 1-1 Summit League) held off a late surge from UND in a 4-3 triumph in Friday's opener. The Coyotes built leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before a late rally by the visitors came up just short in the top of the seventh. 

UND pounded out 10 hits, something that would become a theme for the afternoon, with a trio of players tallying multi-hit games. Alexys Campos led the way with a pair of hits and a run scored from the top of the order while Madi Moore followed suit with a two-hit afternoon while also scoring a run. Jocelyn Kirk was the final Fighting Hawk with multiple knocks, driving in a run in the top of the third to get the green and white on the scoreboard. 

After a rocky first inning, Jannay Jones settled down to complete six innings of work with only four hits and two earned runs allowed. The junior struck out one and walked one, but fell to 4-7 on the season. 

In that opening frame, a leadoff triple and a pair of throwing errors helped stake the Coyotes out to a 3-0 lead, but Jones and the defense limited the hosts to just those three runs to keep the Hawks within striking distance. 

UND started to chip away in the top of the third when Moore smoked a double to begin the frame before a one-out single by Kirk brought her home and cut the deficit to 3-1. The Hawks nearly trimmed the lead down even further, but stranded a pair of base. 

The opportunities for the visitors were there but came up empty, with UND stranding the bases loaded in the top of the fourth and a double play ending a threat in the fifth. USD took advantage with a triple and RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead back to three, 4-1, after five complete. 

In the seventh, two singles put a pair one for Katie Bierstedt with one out and she delivered with a single to cut it back to two, 4-2, with still only one out. Madison Pederson followed with an RBI groundout to make it 4-3 and place the tying run at second, but USD closed the door to hold on for the 4-3 win in the opener. 

G2: North Dakota 9, South Dakota 5
UND exploded for a season-high nine runs, including a four-run top of the fifth, to roar past South Dakota, 9-5, and close out the day of action with a split. 

It was a big game for the bottom of the order for the Fighting Hawks, with Cassie Castenada, Moore and Caitlyn Shumaker all coming up with multi-RBI contests. Kirk also drove in a run from the bottom of the order, as UND scored nine on nine hits. 

Moore came through with a trio of hits and a walk to reach base in all four at-bats in the win. The sophomore also drove in two and came around to score twice to match Castenada for the game lead. Castenada had a hit and two walks to go alongside her two RBIs and runs plated to stretch her RBI total to five on the year. 

Nikki Pica earned her first win of the season and just missed a complete game to boot, firing 6.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out four to move to 1-6 on the season. Lauren Feld got the final out with a strikeout to seal the victory. 

After watching USD jump out to a lead in the first inning during the opener, it was UND's turn in the finale. Chevelle Sartin and Bierstedt went back-to-back to deep left field to quickly give the Fighting Hawks a 2-0 lead. It was the first-career home run for Bierstedt and the first in a UND uniform for Sartin. 

South Dakota struck back quickly with two runs of its own in the bottom of the stanza, but Pica kept the game tied with a strikeout and fly out to end the frame knotted at two. 

The contest remained locked until the top of the fourth, when a one-out walk to Castenada and a Moore single put runners in scoring position. Shumaker hit a hard ball that couldn't be handled by the shortstop and allowed Castenada to come home to give the lead back to UND, 3-2. 

A 1-2-3 frame by Pica brought the Hawks right back to the plate where they continued to put up runs. With runners on first and second for Castenada with one out, the catcher roped a double into right center to clear the bases and advance to third on a throwing error to extend the lead to 5-2. Moore followed with a walk and stolen base to put two in scoring position once again, and a sacrifice fly by Shumaker before an RBI double by Kirk pushed it to 7-2 heading to the bottom of the fifth. 

South Dakota trimmed it to 7-4, but UND answered right back again when Moore smacked the third homer of the afternoon for the visitors to left field to make it 9-4 in favor of the green and white. 

USD threatened in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead to 9-5, but Feld shut the door to preserve the win and the Friday split. 

North Dakota and South Dakota will close out their four-game set on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.