The North Dakota State softball team went 3-2 this past weekend, collecting wins against Buffalo and sweeping Tarleton while falling to New Mexico and UTEP.
The Herd kicked off Friday with a 6-3 win over Buffalo. Reanna Rudd was the story of the game for NDSU as she homered twice, becoming the first Bison to hit two home runs in a game since Vanessa Anderson in 2018.
Buffalo got the scoring started in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. However, NDSU responded with two runs in the top of the third with an RBI double by Molly Gates and an RBI single by Dez Cardenas.
Their lead was extended in the fourth inning after a two-RBI single by Camryn Maykut, but Buffalo would answer with a two-run homer to make the game 4-3.
Then, Rudd homered in the fifth inning and seventh inning to lock in the win for the Bison.
Pitcher Paige Vargas improved to 4-1 on the season, pitching a complete game. She struck out a career-high 14 batters, the most by a Bison since Jacquelyn Sertic had 15 in 2018.
NDSU dropped game two on Friday, losing to New Mexico 6-4.
The Lobos set the tone early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
Rudd brought in the first run of the game for the Herd in the fourth inning with an RBI single to bring home Avery Wysong.
New Mexico answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead back to five.
The Herd scored three runs in the final two innings, but their comeback ultimately fell short. They had a chance in the seventh inning, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out but were only able to bring one run home.
Pitcher Mac Schulz got the loss, going four innings while giving up five earned runs on seven hits.
The loss ended NDSU’s six-game win streak.
In game one on Saturday, NDSU lost to UTEP 9-8.
UTEP took the early lead in the top of the first after scoring an unearned run. The Bison would respond, however, in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Wysong to tie the game.
A four-run second inning would give NDSU the lead only for UTEP to counter with six runs in the top of the third.
Nicole Licea tried to spark a comeback in the sixth inning with a two-RBI single. Cardenas brought home another run in the seventh to cut the deficit to one, but the Herd was unable to score another run.
Savy Williams took the loss as she allowed seven earned runs over 5.2 innings while striking out five.
NDSU ended Saturday with a win over Tarleton, winning 8-4. It took a come-from-behind effort as the Texans jumped out to a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
Wysong cut the deficit to 3-2 after a two-RBI single to bring home Emilee Buringa and Licea.
Tarleton added another run in the fourth, but NDSU tied the game in the bottom of the inning with RBIs from Buringa and Gates.
Buringa added two more RBIs in the fifth with a single to give the Bison a 6-4 lead.
Rudd added a couple of insurance runs in the sixth with a two-run single to put the game out of reach at 8-4.
Vargas added another win, pitching her second complete game of the weekend while giving up two earned runs and striking out seven.
NDSU capped off the Lobo Classic with a blowout win over Tarleton, winning 9-1. They never trailed in the game, scoring the first seven runs.
Maykut got the offense started in the first inning with an RBI single, scoring Gates. Buringa added another two runs in the second inning with a single.
In the third inning, Carley Goetschius picked up two of her three RBIs in the game with a two-run single. She picked up her other RBI in the following inning with a double. Kaylee Moore brought her home later in the inning to give the Herd a 7-0 lead.
Williams had a good outing for the Bison, pitching four innings while giving up one earned run.
After going 3-2 on the weekend, NDSU’s record is now 10-4 on the season.
Up next, NDSU will travel to Riverside, Calif. to play in the Amy S. Harrison Classic starting on Friday. The Herd will face Cal State – Northridge, California Baptist and Oregon State in single games. Then they will face UC – Riverside in a double-header.