BY OAKLEE FIELDER
The Northwestern softball team lost six of their eight games over the break, lowering their record to 10-21.
Their first three games were against Southern Arkansas University at home, followed by three away games against Arkansas-Monticello.
After the road trip, the Ladies came home to play Fort Hays State University in a doubleheader on Tuesday.
The Lady Rangers were swept by the Muleriders, losing all three games. The first game went into extra innings, but the weekend slowly got worse. Their final game against the nationally-ranked Muleriders ended in an 11-0 loss.
Northwestern was able to take down the Cotton Blossoms on Friday in the second game of the doubleheader. Their win was a two-run, 3-1 win over Monticello. The Cotton Blossoms were able to take down the Lady Rangers in the other two games played.
At home on Tuesday, the Lady Rangers lost to Fort Hays in the first game of the doubleheader which went into extra innings. In the second game, the Tigers were taken down 6-2 in a Lady Ranger win.
In the first, tight game against the Muleriders, the Lady Rangers took an early lead in the first inning after Raelynn Sandlin was walked with the bases loaded. After two scoreless innings, Southern Arkansas finally responded and tied the game at one.
In the fifth, the Lady Rangers scored thrice with a homerun from Jamie Molina to take her and Kaylee Madden home, and a hit from Jazmine Mikel. After the hit from Mikel, there was an error from Southern Arkansas, allowing Giselle Baumbach to run home and score.
In the following inning, Southern Arkansas scored five runs to take the lead by two. Then in the bottom half of the sixth, the Lady Rangers scored three more times after a hit from Delaynie Esterly sent two runners home and a hit from Taygan Graham sent Esterly home, giving the Lady Rangers the lead by one.
The Muleriders tied it in the seventh, and then scored in the extra eighth inning. Northwestern was unable to respond in the bottom of the eighth, and Southern Arkansas won the game 8-7.
Kaitlyn Corn and Sandlin both had two hits apiece. Molina and Esterly had two RBIs apiece. Chloe Brown pitched all eight innings, having two strikeouts and five walks.
The next two games for NWOSU were rough, as Southern Arkansas allowed only one point scored from the Lady Rangers in both games combined. The one run scored was scored by Corn after a hit from Molina in the second game of the series.
The following games against Monticello were much closer, and gave the Lady Rangers a win.
In game one against the Cotton Blossoms, the Lady Rangers scored first.
In the second, Corn hit a sacrifice fly to send Mikel home. Monticello responded with three runs scored in the fourth. In the following inning, NWOSU scored one run to make it a close game. Sandlin made a hit and Molina was able to run home.
The Lady Rangers scored again to tie it in the following inning. An error from the catcher allowed Corn to run home and tie the game at 3.
In the bottom half of the sixth, the Cotton Blossoms scored a homerun to score the winning run and topped the Lady Rangers 4-3.
The Ladies did win the second game of the three-game series after a long, low-scoring game.
Monticello scored in the first, giving them an early, one-run lead. The game continued scoreless until the final inning, where Aspen Loafman hit a homerun to take her and Katelyn Bezdicek home, taking the lead by one.
Then, Corn hit a homerun to give the Lady Rangers a two-run lead in the final inning. The Cotton Blossoms couldn’t answer the call, and they lost to Northwestern 3-1.
In the third game, the Lady Rangers only scored once in a game that echoed the game before. Northwestern scored first, Monticello then scored three time in one inning, winning the game 3-1.
The one run scored by Northwestern was a sacrifice fly from Esterly to send Madden home in the first.
The Lady Rangers lost to Fort Hays State University in the first game of the doubleheader 12-9. After the loss, the Lady Rangers turned it around and won the second game 6-2.
Northwestern sits 11th in the standings, above East Central and below Southwestern. Their next opponent, Southern Nazarene, is fifth. The Lady Rangers will face SNU of Friday and Saturday in Bethany.