INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.--Shortstop Nicole Rivera matched a career-high with a 4 for 4 effort at the plate as North Dakota State defeated IUPUI 4-2 in the first game, but the Jaguars powered their way to a 9-2 victory in  the second in a Summit League softball doubleheader played Saturday, March 27, at the IUPUI Softball Complex. IUPUI won two of the three games in the series.

North Dakota State (4-2 Summit, 19-14) is scheduled to host IPFW (8-1 Summit, 16-10) in the 2010 home opening series Friday, April 2, and Saturday, April 3. The Mastodons swept a doubleheader Saturday to complete a series sweep of Centenary on Saturday.

Rivera, who went 8 for 12 in the three-game set, knocked in a pair of runs and scored another against IUPUI (3-6 Summit, 6-19) in the opener. She led a 15-hit attack for the Bison.

Rivera led off the first inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice fly and moved to Melissa Chmielewski 's single to left. Laurel Pipkin, Becca Gift and Chmielewski each had two hits.

NDSU tacked on another pair of runs in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. The Bison took advantage of an error and four hits including RBI singles from Taylor Lynn and Rivera.

The Jaguars cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth on Joy Perry's two-out single.

North Dakota State answered Rivera's run-scoring single in the sixth inning to make it 4-1. IUPUI went down swinging in the seventh and added a run on Alicia Hayes solo home run.

Whitney Johnson (14-10) struck out 12, allowed four hits and walked two. It was the sixth double-figure strikeout game for Johnson. Samantha Brumbaugh (0-8) and Nicole Natter split time on the mound for the Jaguars with Brumbaugh picking up the loss.

IUPUI rebounded and quickly in the second game, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the opening frame for the second time in three games. Hayes hit her second home run of the day, a three-run shot to left field to highlight the inning.

The Jaguars extended the lead to 8-0 in the third inning to put the Bison in a deep hole. Laura Wilcox hit a three-run home run to center.

Cristina Borek hit a two-out, two-run single to center to help NDSU avoid the shutout in the fourth inning.

Each team finished with seven hits. Chelsie Hale went 2 for 3 with two runs scored for IUPUI.

Johnson and Randi Parks pitched for North Dakota State with Johnson picking up the loss. Parks struck out a career-high seven batters in the extended six-inning relief appearance. Nicole Natter (2-5) picked up the win as three pitchers worked for the Jaguars.