STATESBORO, Ga. – The North Dakota State softball team completed a sweep of the GATA Challenge with a pair of victories Sunday morning, defeating Maine 8-2 and Georgia Southern 5-0.
 
The Bison (7-2) got rolling in the second inning against Maine (1-4) when freshman Chloe Woldruff hit an RBI double to score Carley Goetschius. Four batters later, with the bases loaded, Molly Gates hit an RBI single and then Dez Cardenas walked in the third run of the inning.
 
Woldruff would drive in another run in the third inning as she singled to right to score Goetschius for a second time.
 
Maine would answer with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but the Bison would answer back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, as well as a run in the fifth and sixth.
 
Cardenas drove in her second run of the game with a single to score Emilee Buringa to start the Bison scoring in the fourth. Avery Wysong then doubled later in the inning to score Cameryn Maykut.
 
Skylar Padgett would bring in Woldruff in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and Wysong singled in the sixth that allowed Cardenas to score after an error for the final run of the game.
 
Paige Vargas tossed a complete game to improve to 3-1 on the season. Vargas allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out nine.
 
In game two against Georgia Southern (4-6), the Bison took the lead in the top of the first as Goetschius drove in Gates with a sacrifice fly to right.
 
In the circle, Mac Schulz would go 5.2 innings, scattering three hits and two walks without allowing a run in a shared shutout with Vargas, who closed out the final four outs. Schulz improved to 2-0 on the season.
 
The Bison would add four more runs in the fifth inning with a pair of home runs. Maykut hit her second homer of the season with a two-run shot to make it 3-0. Two batters later, Goetschius hit her first home run as a Bison to extend the lead to 5-0.
 
The shutout win extends the Bison win streak to five games and is the second shutout of the weekend.
 
North Dakota State will be back in action next week, traveling to Albuquerque, New Mexico for five games over three days at the Lobo Classic, beginning with games against Buffalo and host New Mexico on February 25.