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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State softball team posted two shutouts against MIAA opponent Washburn University Friday afternoon.

NSU (18-16, 10-4 MIAA) claimed two run-ruled contests against the Lady Blues (9-23, 5-11 MIAA), taking game one in six innings 8-0 and game two in five frames 11-0.

The RiverHawks have now recorded five-straight shutouts and have won eight games in a row. The shutout streak is the most for NSU since the program joined the NCAA in 1997, while the win streak is the longest since 2007.

NSU 8 , WU 0 (Box Score)
Northeastern State took an early 1-0 lead in the home half of the first inning when junior Amanda Harjo singled to right field scoring freshman Saharra Henson. Henson reached base on a walk.

The RiverHawks led the Lady Blues 1-0 until scoring another two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior Megan Robison knocked in both senior Cayce Coleman and junior Navada Campos on a shot to right center to improve the lead for NSU 3-0.

The bottom of the fifth frame saw Northeastern State score three more runs from Harjo, Campos and senior Lisa Ripperger. NSU gripped the lead 6-0.

The RiverHawks ended the run-rule victory in the home half of the sixth frame after Campos scored on a single from Coleman. Ripperger also scored in the frame on a double by Campos.

Northeastern State outhit the visitors 11-6. Four different members of the team recorded two hits, and Campos scored three runs. Robison also recorded two runs batted in.

Coleman (6-3) earned the win in the circle after throwing the six-inning shutout. This was her second-straight shutout, and the third game in a row she did not concede an earned run. She allowed six hits, no runs and walked only two batters.
 
NSU 11 , WU 0 (Box Score)
The RiverHawks started off game two scoring four runs off five hits to lead the Lady Blues 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Kelsi Hilderbrandt scored junior Madison Reed, who reached base on a shot through the left side. Campos singled to left field to score Hilderbrandt. Junior Allyson Pogue struck a single to right field to bring in Campos and Ripperger.

NSU improved its lead in the bottom of the third frame scoring two runs to lead WU 6-0.

Northeastern State held Washburn to a scoreless game recording an additional five runs in the bottom of the fifth frame to end the game 11-0 in a run-rule.

Three RiverHawks had perfect games at the plate, led by Campos' 3-for-3 performance. She also drove in three and scored twice. Hilderbrandt and Ripperger were both 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored each.

Freshman Kayce Wooldridge (5-9) tabbed the win after throwing a five-inning shutout. She allowed only two hits. She threw her team-leading ninth complete-game of the season and tossed her third shutout of the year.

The RiverHawks will host Emporia State (26-11, 13-5) at RiverHawks Park April 13. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH CLAY DAVIS
On improving the win streak to eight in a row…
“We're just continuing to play well. Right now we're swinging the bats and pitching well. We're not beating ourselves, which I think is a big key. We're putting ourselves in good position and giving ourselves a chance to win.”
 
On recording five-straight shutouts…
“That's a credit to our pitching staff, for starters. It's also a credit to our defense. We don't have big strikeout numbers as far as our pitchers go. We're getting a lot of fly balls and ground balls, and our defense is playing really great. I would give our defense just as much credit as our pitching for this shutout streak that we are on.”
 
On the upcoming games with Emporia State and Central Oklahoma…
“These next four games are huge. The most important series of our season is tomorrow. Emporia State is a tough team. They're well coached. They're going to come in here and play well, and we have to find a way to match that.”
 
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