SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The North Dakota softball team totaled 28 runs and 36 hits across two games on Saturday, going 2-0 with wins over UT Arlington and Saint Francis from Roadrunner Field. UND is now 11-8 on the season, defeating the Mavs 16-8 and the Red Flash 12-3, in six innings.

Jordan Stevens picked up his 200th win as a Fighting Hawk with the first win of the day, as UND swatted five home runs over the two games. Two each came via Makenna Alexander, while Taya Hopfauf, Camryn Lasota and Chloe Bethune each nuked one. It was Bethune's first career home run.

Game 1 UND 16, UTA 8
It was another comeback win from the Hawks against the Mavs, overcoming a 4-0 deficit with six runs in the second inning. UND had 22 hits, the first 20-hit game since March 31, 2019.

Hopfauf led the way, going 3-for-5 from the field with four RBIs and a home run. She was on base four times. Lasota, Aleksia Severson and Jaedyn Valdez all went 3-of-5, with Katelyn Neumayer and Chloe Bethune going 3-for-4. Chloe had three RBIs, along with Brooklyn Morris who totaled three runs batted in, going 1-of-5 at the plate.

Tehya Armstrong started the game for UND, allowing six earned runs across 1.1 innings. Unity Nelson came in for relief, going 5.2 innings, giving up just two earned runs, walking two and striking out three. She picked up her fourth win of the season.

How It Happened
After falling behind 4-0, UND logged six runs in the second inning, on six hits. Morris had a three-run RBI double, making it 4-3, in which she ended up scoring on a wild pitch, making it 4-4. Lasota then hit a double and was driven in by Severson, who logged a triple and later scored on a wild pitch, putting UND up 6-4.

UT Arlington hopped back in front in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs to go up 7-6. The Hawks were held scoreless in the third and fourth innings, leaving a total of four runners on base. They hopped back in front in the fifth, behind four runs and four hits. Hopfauf roped a two-RBI single, driving in Chloe Bethune and Lasota, to go up 8-7.

Neumayer and Hailey Bethune each scorched RBI doubles, putting the Hawks ahead 10-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

The Mavs got one in the bottom of the fifth, making it 10-8. After a scoreless top of the sixth, UND tallied six runs on eight hits in the top of the seventh, to blow the game open to 16-8. Hopfauf started the charge with a solo home run, followed by an RBI single from Valdez making it 12-8. Chloe Bethune then opened things up, with a three-run home run, the first one of her career, to put UND up 15-8. Hopfauf later tacked on her fourth RBI of the game, as UND took a 16-8 lead, in route to a victory.

Game 2 UND 12, Saint Francis 3 (F/6)
The Hawks kept the bats hot in the second game, scoring five runs in the top of the first. Those five runs were all UND would need in route to a run-rule after six innings.

Alexander hit two home runs, while Lasota cranked one to lead off the game. Hailey Bethune went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, while Hopfauf, Alexander, Valdez and Chloe Bethune each had two base knocks.

Tegan Livesay improved to 5-3 in the circle, going the full 6.0 innings, allowing just three runs on six hits, striking out four and walking three. It was her third quality start of the season.

How It Happened
NoDak scored five runs on five hits in the top of the first, courtesy of a lead-off home run by Lasota and a three-run homer from Alexander. North Dakota led 5-0 after one.

Neumayer had an RBI single in the top of the second to go up 6-0, before Alexander homered again in the top of the third, to make it 7-0. Morris had a sac fly in that inning, going up 8-0.

The Red Flash scored three unanswered runs over the next two innings, to trim the score to 8-3. Following scoreless frames in the top of the fourth and top of the fifth, NoDak tacked on four runs in the sixth, thanks to an RBI single from Hailey Bethune, an RBI double from Valdez and a two-RBI single from Chloe Bethune, to blow it open to 12-3.

A scoreless bottom of the sixth from Livesay, gave UND the victory at 12-3. The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. against New Mexico State.

For more information on North Dakota Softball, follow on social media @UNDsoftball or visit FightingHawks.com.