OXFORD, Miss. – The North Dakota State softball team opened the Ole Miss Classic on Friday, March 5, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Indiana State by scores of 10-5 and 1-0.
The Sycamores (3-6) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings in the opener before the Bison (1-6) started chipping away.
Cara Beatty hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning,
Cameryn Maykut and
Madyson Camacho hit back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth, and
Sam Koehn doubled in two runs in the fifth to make it a 7-5 game.
Indiana State pushed across a run in the sixth on a double steal and strung together three two-out hits in the seventh inning for the final margin.
Six different Bison players hit safely in the opener. Starting pitcher
Lainey Lyle (1-2) took the loss allowing six earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 1 1/3 innings.
NDSU starter
Paige Vargas (0-3) went the distance in the second game allowing just four hits and one walk with five strikeouts, but the Bison couldn't capitalize on three extra-base hits.
Dez Cardenas hit a two-out double in the fourth,
Stephanie Soriano doubled in the fifth before an infield popup and fly ball, and
Ciara Jensen was stranded after a two-out triple in the sixth.
North Dakota State returns to action Saturday, March 6, facing tournament host Ole Miss in a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. ESPN+ will broadcast both games live.
