IOWA CITY, Iowa--Melissa Chmielewski's eighth inning double knocked in the winning run as North Dakota State edged Northern Illinois 2-1 during the first day of the University of Iowa Hawkeye Classic on Friday, March 23 at Bob Pearl Field.

The Bison (19-15) are scheduled to play Ball State (7-14) at 10 a.m. and host Iowa (18-13) at 12:30 p.m. as tournament play continues Saturday, March 24. NDSU concludes the tournament against South Dakota State (10-14) at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 25.

Northern Illinois (8-10) scored first in extra innings when shortstop Krista McPherson singled with two outs to push across the game's first run in the top of the eighth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Grete Peterson moved to third on a Lynnae Foshag sacrifice bunt and scored on Kelly Cantrell's double to left. Taylor Lynn pinch ran for Cantrell and scooted home on Chmielewski's RBI double to right field.

Both teams came up with defensive plays in the seventh inning to force the game into extra innings. North Dakota State third baseman Jackie Currie and first baseman Chmielewski turned a double play in the top of the inning, while Huskies' center fielder Kelly Park threw out NDSU's Jennifer Morse at home trying to score from second.

Morse and Cantrell each had two hits to spark the Bison, who held a 7-4 advantage in hits. Michelle Nendza had a double and single for Northern Illinois.

North Dakota State pitcher Allison Bakke (11-9) broke a personal six-game losing streak with the win. Bakke struck out seven, scattered four hits and walked two in eight innings. Kate Greenough (6-7) took the loss for NIU. She walked two and struck out one in 7.1 innings.

It was the second meeting between the two teams as NDSU defeated the Huskies 11-2 at the UNI Dome Invitational in February.