BROOKINGS, S.D. – The North Dakota State softball team was eliminated from the Summit League Championships on Thursday, falling twice after opening the day with a win.
 
First, NDSU wrapped up a suspended game from day one, completing a shutout of Kansas City, 3-0. However, the Bison would fall to Omaha 5-1 and then fell to host South Dakota State, 10-2, in an elimination game.
 
In the Kansas City game, NDSU took the lead in the bottom of the first on Wednesday. Carley Goetschius led off the bottom half with a single up the middle and came around to score on an RBI single through the left side from Bella Dean.
 
In the fourth, Kaylee Moore led off the inning with a single and the Zoe King stepped up with a pinch-hit RBI single to double the Bison lead, 2-0.
 
Play would be suspended for 67 minutes before the fifth inning began with the first of two lightning delays. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, play was suspended for the evening. After play was resumed Thursday morning, Moore picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice groundout for the final run.
 
Paige Vargas would then get two strikeouts to start the morning and finished with five for the game. She scattered five hits and two walks for her sixth complete game shutout of the season.
 
In game two, Omaha took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and held it until the sixth, when they added a four-run inning. The Bison would load the bases in the seventh and scored one run on a King sacrifice fly, but were unable to close the gap.
 
In the third game, the Bison answered an early run from South Dakota State, tying the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning with a Chloe Woldruff RBI single.
 
However, South Dakota State would answer back with five runs in the third and eventually extended the lead to 10-1. Reanna Rudd would hit an RBI double down the line to score Bella Dean for the final run of the game.
 
With the losses, the NDSU season comes to a close as the Bison finish the season 30-21.