Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State softball team picked up a pair of non-conference victories Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo.
- The games were played at the Heritage Park Softball Complex as a part of the MWSU Apple Market Classic. 16 teams are participating in the midseason crossover, eight apiece from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
- Northwest scored multiple runs in each inning against Concordia-St. Paul, winning 12-3 in five innings.
- The Bearcats rallied for a five-run sixth inning in a 6-2 victory over Northern State.
- Northwest improves to 20-6 on the year, while the Golden Bears fall to 6-11 and the Wolves are now 9-12 overall.
 Game One Key Statistics (Northwest 12, Concordia-St. Paul 3, five innings)
- All nine Bearcat batters recorded hits in the contest, and all but one scored at least one run.
- Kendle Schieber (10-3) gave up three runs on four hits across her five innings of work, striking out one Concordia batter. The senior finished 1-for-3 and scored a run on the offensive side.
- Kiana Baderdeen finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs and her first career home run.
- Sophomore Jessica Rawie drove in three runs, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
- Jaedra Moses and Torri Blythe each scored two runs on two hits.
- Shortstop Rebecca Maher finished 1-for-3 with a double, driving in two runs and scoring two more.
- Alexis Kelsey reached base twice, scoring one run and driving in two.
- Junior Chantel Adams doubled in the fourth inning, scoring a run and driving in another.
- Designated player Madison Jones scored one run after singling in the third. The senior also drew a walk.

Game One Key Innings
- Schieber retired the first nine batters she faced, not allowing a base runner until the fourth inning.
 
- Blythe used her speed to leg out a single to the catcher to open the bottom of the first. After swiping second, Moses advanced her to third with a single to left center. Both lefties crossed the plate when Maher drove a double right over the bag at first. Rawie drove in her fellow sophomore three batters later with a bloop single into left, giving Northwest an early 3-0 lead.
 
- The Bearcats pushed across three more runs in the second when Blythe again reached on an infield single, this time a shot deep in the hole at short. Moses reached on a perfectly placed bunt, forcing the pitcher to field the ball going away from first base. Blythe just beat the throw to third on Maher's fielder's choice to load the bases for Kelsey. The freshman drove in two with a single back up the middle, followed by an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Adams.
 
- After Jones and Schieber reached on singles to open the third, Baderdeen got every bit of the first pitch she saw, depositing it to deep left center field and giving Northwest a nine-run lead.
 
- The Golden Bears scraped together two runs in the fourth, but the Bearcats answered right back with two more in the bottom of the inning. Kelsey was hit by a pitch and promptly moved to third when Adams dropped in a double just inside the chalk in right field. Rawie plated them both with a solid single to left center.
 Game Two Key Statistics (Northwest 6, Northern State 2)
- Eight Bearcats recorded hits in the contest, with Northwest outhitting the Wolves, 10-5.
- Rachel Smith (6-1) tossed her second complete game of the season, striking out seven while giving up just five hits. Both runs in the contest were unearned, lowering the freshman's ERA to 2.73.
- Chantel Adams finished 2-for-3 and drove in one run.
- Freshman Alexis Kelsey scored a run after going 2-for-4 at the plate.
- Rebecca Maher drove in two runs with a single in the sixth.
- Pinch hitter Abigail Gilson scored a run and drove in another.
- Junior Torri Blythe finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored.
- Jaedra Moses scored a run after singling in the fourth.
- Celena Kipping drew a walk as a pinch hitter in the sixth, tallying her first RBI as a Bearcat.

Game Two Key Innings
- The Bearcats broke through for the game's first run in the bottom of the fourth when Moses led off with an infield single. After swiping second, the freshman advanced to third when Maher reached on an error. Two batters later, Adams sent an RBI single past the shortstop to score Moses.

- Smith faced the minimum three batters in four separate innings.
 
- After falling behind 2-1, Northwest put together a big inning in the sixth to retake the lead. Singles from Kelsey, Adams and Jones loaded the bases for pinch hitter Gilson. The sophomore drove in Kelsey when she reached on an error by the second baseman. Blythe handed Northwest what turned out to be the winning run when she beat out an infield single to third. Kipping drew a walk to bring in another run before Maher sent two more home with a clutch single to right field.
 Up Next
- Northwest will wrap up the weekend in St. Joseph with two more games in the Apple Market Classic Sunday, March 20. The Bearcats are set to play Augustana at 9 a.m. before a 1 p.m. tilt against Minnesota State.