Northwood-Kensett falls to North Union for its 3rd loss in a row

 

NORTHWOOD — The Northwood-Kensett softball team hosted North Union Tuesday night, hoping to reverse a two-game losing skid dating back to Wednesday.

The Vikings were unable to find the power they needed at the plate, as the Warriors ran away with the game, 8-1.

Northwood-Kensett played a solid defensive first inning, allowing only one base runner — but  after junior Laura Hopperstad led of with a single in the bottom half of the inning, three straight outs left her stranded on base.

The Warriors opened up scoring in the second inning with a two-out walk being issued, followed by a home run that barely snuck over the left field fence. The Vikings would go three up-three down in the bottom half of the inning, leaving the Warriors to lead the game at 2-0 at the end of the second.

North Union added another run to its total in the next inning using a two-out RBI single to bring the run in. Northwood-Kensett would get two base runners on after back-to-back singles from Hopperstad and junior Molly Hunchis, but came away with no runs to show for it, now down 3-0 after three.

Neither team was able to push any runs across in the fourth inning, but the Warriors expanded on their lead in the fifth. They scored another run in a two-out scenario, this time with a single to the outfield.

The Vikings seemed like they might grab a few runs in the bottom of the fifth after a walk from sophomore Peyton Pangburn and a single from sophomore Jaela Parks opened the inning. However, two strikeouts and a ground out ended the inning, leaving runners stranded again.

Two more runs in the sixth inning opened the lead to six runs for North Union, until Northwood-Kensett was finally able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Kayla Senne hit a double to start the inning; she was advanced on a grounder by senior Dusti Bratrud and was hit in on a sacrifice fly from senior Paige Oleson.

The Warriors would add two more in the seventh and the Vikings were unable to start a rally in the final half of the inning, extending their losing streak to three games.

Senne started in the circle for the Vikings; she pitched all seven innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits, while walking six batters and striking out six.

As a team, Northwood-Kensett scored one run on six hits.

The Vikings fall to 7-14 on the season, with just two games remaining before postseason play. They will be back in action Wednesday night when they host the Bison of North Iowa.