By RYAN SHUMAKER
Sports Editor
Northwestern softball gained some momentum over the break with three wins in six games to double their season wins.
The Rangers competed in three double headers, winning one game and losing one game in all three.
The first series pitted the Rangers against Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.
In the first game lead-off batter Alexis Hayes put together a 2-3 performance, but the rest of the Rangers line-up could only manage two other hits, leading to an 8-0 loss.
Pitchers Madison Garza, Karly Murray and Erin Norrie all saw time on the mound and struggled to put away Newman batters.
The second game of the doubleheader against the Jets would be a complete different story as this time the Jets would be the ones to struggle behind the plate, resulting in an 8-0 Ranger’s victory.
The game would remain scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when Hayes once again came through for the Rangers with a RBI single that scored sophomore Peyton Garrett.
A Jordan Haya homerun later on in the inning would increase the Ranger lead to six, before Hayes struck again in the sixth tacking on another run after Garrett scored on a throwing error.
Garza was phenomenal on the mound, throwing all six innings and only allowing two hits throughout the course of the game.
The Rangers returned to conference play on Saturday and faced off against Oklahoma Baptist University.
Garza picked up her third win of the season after a 7-4 victory for the Rangers.
Murray was credited with her first save of the season after retiring all but one of the batters she faced in the final two innings.
Second baseman Stephanie Couser homered and Garrett went 2-3 with a triple and two RBI’s to show off some much needed power in the middle of the Rangers line-up.
The afternoon portion of the doubleheader wouldn’t be as friendly to the Rangers as the first game, as the Rangers bats once again struggled, leading to a 5-1 loss.
Hayes scored off of a Haya single in the first to match the run the Bison also scored in the first inning, but a huge second inning for the Bison put the Rangers down 4-1.
In the bottom half of the second, sophomore Madison Mcgraw led off with a single and then stole second and third.
Garret followed with a walk and then also moved herself into scoring position stealing second base, but the Rangers hitters were unable to get them across home plate.
The Rangers only produced one more hit throughout the rest of the game.
The Black-and-Red came out in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader action and jumped out to an early lead, but were unable to string together any other runs and ended up losing 3-1.
Haya went 2-3 and provided the only RBI for the Rangers.
Murray took the mound for the second game of the doubleheader and didn’t allow an earned run in a 4-2 Ranger victory.
Haya once again began the Ranger’s scoring in the first inning with a triple off the right field wall that scored Couser and Mcgraw.
The two run lead held until the fourth inning when a costly error allowed two Bison runners to score.
However, the Rangers would also capitalize on a Bison error and put two runners across the plate off of a Garret single.
The Rangers record stands at 5-23 (3-15 GAC.) With six conference series remaining the Rangers are still very much alive in postseason contention.
The Rangers are just three games back of eighth place in the conference, which would qualify them for a berth in the GAC tournament championship.
The next few series for the Rangers will pit them against some of the lower ranked teams in the conference.
The Black-and-Red will look to continue to gain much need conference wins when they head down to the city to take on Southern Nazarene on Mar. 25-26 in two days of doubleheader action.