ROCHESTER, Mich. ???C Junior infielder Julie Owen went 2-for-6, with two walks, a home run and one RBI, and sophomore catcher Angela Righetti went 3-for-6, with a double, but the North Dakota State Bison (30-12, 7-1 Summit) picked up a pair of softball Summit League wins this afternoon, 11-1 (6) and 5-2 (9), over Oakland University (10-15, 2-5 Summit) on Friday at the OU Softball Field. The Golden Grizzlies committed four errors in game one and only allowed one earned run.

Freshman right fielder Alyssa Deacon, junior third baseman/shortstop Caitlin Lynch and junior designated player Roberta Ches each had hits for the Grizzlies in the opener. Lynch and senior first baseman Alex Perrino added hits and senior Brittany West had a pinch hit base hit in the seventh inning to lead OU in the nightcap.

Junior Jessica Granger (6-10) tossed 14.1 innings, allowing 24 hits, 12 runs, six earned runs, walking six and striking out seven. Her counterpart Allison Bakke (19-5) tossed a complete game for the Bison in game one, scattering five hits and one run, while striking out nine Grizzly hitters, and picked up the win in relief of game two, going 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit and fanned four.

In game one, the Bison loaded the bases in the top of the first inning thanks to a walk and two Golden Grizzly errors, but Granger picked up her third strikeout of the inning to get out of the jam. Deacon doubled with one out in the bottom half of the inning, but OU could not take advantage as both teams headed to the second inning scoreless.

The Bison threatened again in the top of the second inning on a pair of singles and a stolen base to put runners at first and third with one out. Granger once again pitched her way out of trouble with a shallow fly out to left field and a ground out to shortstop.

NDSU broke through in the top of the fourth inning on a successful suicide squeeze play as Laurel Pipkin got the bunt down to drive in Taylor Lynn who led off with a double to left field as OU trailed 1-0. Back-to-back base knocks up the middle in the bottom half of the inning by Lynch and Ches had Oakland in business in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. The runners advanced to second and third after a ground out to shortstop, but Bakke came up with a big strikeout to keep her team on top by one.

The Bison took advantage of two Oakland errors in the top of the sixth inning and scored 10 unearned runs, highlighted by RBI singles by Melissa Chmielewski, Aimee Enzler and a double by Richel Briones, as the Grizzlies trailed by 11.

The Grizzlies??? Owen started the bottom half of the sixth inning with a solo home run to center field to break up the shutout for Bakke as OU fell by a final score of 11-1 after six innings of play.

OU scored one run, on five hits and had four costly errors, while the Bison scored 11 runs, on 13 hits and had no errors.

In the nightcap, the Bison scored first in the top of the third inning with two outs, thanks to a walk and double to left field by Enzler as the Grizzlies trailed 1-0.

NDSU added another run in the top of the fourth inning, again with two outs, as Pipkin had a base hit to shallow right field that OU was unable to relay home for the out as the Bison led by two.

The Golden Grizzlies got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the fourth inning, courtesy of an RBI single through the right side by Righetti as the score moved to 2-1, in favor of the Bison.

Oakland ran in to some tough luck in the bottom of the fifth inning as freshman center fielder Kelsey Krych reached on an error, but was picked off first base after she hurt her knee going back and dropped to the ground, allowing the Bison second baseman to tag her out for the first of the inning, and NDSU recorded two quick outs after that to preserve the one-run lead.

Trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, Righetti led off with a base hit and advanced to second base on a successful sacrifice bunt. Then West came in to pinch hit for the Grizzlies and hit a slow grounder to shortstop that the Bison infielder threw away at first base which allowed pinch runner Anne Cicchini to score and tie the game at 1-1. With two outs, the Grizzlies put a runner on third base on a wild pitch as the Bison intentionally walked Owen to place runners at first and third. What looked like the winning base knock for Oakland as Deacon lined one down the first base line, but the Bison first baseman snagged it to end the inning and send the game to extra innings.

NDSU loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning on two hit batters and a bloop single to right field all with one out and Enzler delivered again with a base hit up the middle to give the Bison the lead once again by one, 3-2. Then Biones doubled to center field to plate two more runs as Oakland fell behind by three.

Not going down without a fight, Righetti led off with a double and sophomore second baseman Haley Emerson walked to put runners at first and second with no outs in the ninth. After a big strikeout, Bakke walked Owen to load the bases with two outs and went after Deacon for the second time in the game, once again getting the better of her by recording the final out with another line drive, this time to third base.

Oakland scored two runs, on six hits and committed one error, while NDSU scored five runs, on 14 hits and had three errors. The third and final game of the series is scheduled for tomorrow at Noon, weather permitting.

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