CEDAR CITY, Utah--Jenavieve Purcell knocked in  the winning run with a two-out single to lift Southern Utah University to an eight-inning 5-4 win over North Dakota State University in a Summit League softball game played Saturday, March 14, at Kathryn Bern Field.

It was SUU's first win in five tries against NDSU. The Bison took two of three games during league opener for both teams. Three of the five meetings between the two teams have went extra innings.

North Dakota State (12-8, 2-1 Summit) is scheduled to play at Nebraska (13-5) in a 3 p.m. doubleheader Tuesday, March 17, in Lincoln. The Bison then play at Creighton (9-7) in a 3 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday, March 18, in Omaha.

The Bison went ahead 4-2 in the top of the seventh on Kelly Cantrell's two-run home run.

Southern Utah (9-17, 1-2 Summit) tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh on Aly Daniels' RBI double and a run-scoring single by Darleen Fernandez.

After the Bison were retired 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, the Thunderbirds started their rally with Natalie McBurney's lead-off double in the eighth. A pop out and ground out preceeded Purcell's game-winning hit.

Breanna Konz hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give North Dakota State an early 2-0 lead. Melissa Chmielewski and Konz each finished with two hits. SUU outhit the Bison 9-7. Each team left nine runners on base.

Andi Padilla (9-4) picked up the loss for North Dakota State. Padilla struck out four and walked four in 7.2 innings of work. Kristina Brooks (8-16) recorded the win for the Thunderbirds. Brooks walked six and struck out seven.

Padilla and Brooks were the pitcher of record in all three games.