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Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State softball team used two solid pitching performances to sweep its competition Saturday in Joplin, Mo.
- The Bearcats are participating in the Teri Mathis-Zenner Memorial Tournament, hosted by Missouri Southern State University at the Joplin Athletic Complex.
- Northwest opened the day with a 9-1 victory over Rockhurst, its first run-rule victory of the season.
- The Bearcats added 2-0 win over Drury in the nightcap, their first shutout this year.
- Coach Ryan Anderson's team is now 8-2 on the year, while the Hawks fell to 3-8 and the Panthers moved to 2-6 overall.
- Rachel Smith and Kendle Schieber combined to strike out 14 while giving up just six hits between the two games.
 

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Game One Key Statistics (Northwest beat Rockhurst, 9-1)
- Rachel Smith improved to 4-0 on the year, pitching five innings of three-hit ball. The freshman struck out a season-best eight batters while walking just one.
- Jessica Rawie scored two runs after turning in a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, including her third home run of the year. The sophomore drove in two RBIs.
- Madison Jones finished a perfect 2-for-2 at the dish, scoring one run and driving in two more.
- Abigail Gilson hit a pinch-hit grand slam in her only at bat, her second home run this season.
- Kiana Baderdeen scored three runs.
- Torri Blythe hit her first career home run, an opposite-field jack in the first.

Game One Key Innings
- Blythe opened the game with a home run to left field in the bottom of the first.

- Smith retired nine-straight batters spanning the first through fourth innings, including six-straight strikeouts.

- After Baderdeen reached on an infield error to open the second inning, Rawie gave Northwest a 3-0 edge with a home run.

- Fourth inning walks to Baderdeen and Jones bookending a single by Rawie loaded the bases for the eight-spot in the lineup. Gilson came in as a pinch hitter and promptly cleared the bases with a grand slam home run, putting the Bearcats in front, 7-1.

- With Chantel Adams and Baderdeen in scoring position, Jones ended the game with a two-RBI single down the left field line.
 

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Game Two Key Statistics (Northwest beat Drury, 2-0)
- Kendle Schieber (3-2) tossed a three-hit shutout in the nightcap, striking out six and walking just one. The senior allowed only one batter to reach third base. Schieber added an RBI at the plate with a single in the fourth.
- Jaedra Moses finished 1-for-2 with one run scored.
- Rebecca Maher drove in one run, finishing 1-for-3.
- Alexis Kelsey doubled in the third inning, extending her hitting streak to 10 games.
- Jessica Rawie doubled and scored one run.

Game Two Key Innings
- Moses stole second in the bottom of the third after reaching on an infield single. Maher drove her home two batters later with a single to center.

- One inning later, Rawie sent a one-out double to left field before scoring on Schieber's single to right, putting the Bearcats in front, 2-0.

- Schieber retired the final nine batters in order to seal the victory.
 

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Up Next
- The Bearcats will play two more non-conference games Sunday in Joplin, beginning with a 10 a.m. contest against McKendree. Northwest will finish the weekend when it faces off with Sioux Falls at noon.