BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Northwest Missouri State softball squad tallied 31 hits and secured two victories Friday at Alvy Early Classic.
 
Northwest began the day with a 14-hit attack and a 9-5 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Bearcats then pounded out 17 hits in a 7-6 triumph over Illinois-Springfield.
 
Alexis Brown tied a Bearcat single-game record with five hits in the win over UIS. It is the sixth time in school history a Northwest softball player has recorded five hits in a game. Lindy Tomlinson was the last Bearcat to achieve a five-hit game as she did it against Central Missouri on March 29, 2001.
 
The wins give Northwest a record of 4-3 this season.
 
NORTHWEST 9, SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 5
The Bearcats pounded out 14 hits in a 9-5 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
The top five batters in the Bearcat order accounted for eight runs and 11 hits. Lillie Filger went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Alexis Brown notched three hits and scored a pair of runs. Omara Love went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Skylar Pieper drove in four runs and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Malia Cuevas went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
 
Rien Moore picked up in the win in relief of starter Cassidy Paulson. Moore was called on in the fourth to extinguish a Southeastern Oklahoma State rally and did just that. Moore pitched the final four innings and allowed only two hits and no runs to move to 2-0 on the year. Paulson pitched into the fourth after as she allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits.
 
NORTHWEST 7, ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD 6
Alexis Brown went 5-for-5 and helped the Bearcats record a 17-hit attack in a 7-6 victory over the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars.
 
The Prairie Stars scored the first run of the day in the second inning by taking advantage of a Bearcat miscue for an unearned run.
 
The Bearcats leveled the game at 1-1 in the third. Gaige Pinkerton led off with a single to left. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Curstin Todd. Todd moved up to third on a Lillie Filger infield groundout. Todd scored on an RBI-single to right by Alexis Brown.
 
Riahn Pinkerton doubled to center with one out in the third. Pinkerton swiped third base and then scored on a two-out, RBI-single from her sister, Gaige.
 
The Prairie Stars scored their second unearned run of the game on in the third to leave the matchup deadlocked at 2-2.
 
Northwest put up a three-spot in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Malia Cuevas delivered an RBI-single to center to plate Alexis Brown. Riahn Pinkerton singled to center to score Love to give Northwest a 4-2 lead. Cuevas would score to give Northwest a 5-2 lead when Gaige Pinkerton reached on an error by the UIS shortstop.
 
UIS trimmed the Northwest lead to 5-4 in the bottom half of the fifth with the benefit of four hits and another Bearcat error. UIS left the bases loaded as the Bearcats escaped the fifth with a one-run advantage.
 
The Bearcats loaded the bases with one out in the sixth and were able to add to their lead. Riahn Pinkerton notched an RBI-single to center to score Brown. Annie Gahan ripped an RBI to center to plate Sylar Pieper, but Cuevas was thrown out on the play attempting to score from second. Gahan's hit gave Northwest a 7-4 lead.
 
The Prairie Stars did not go quietly in the seventh. UIS plated two runs with two outs but had the tying run thrown out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double as Omara Love got the ball in to Malia Cuevas for the tag to clinch the Bearcat win.
 
Jadyn Streigle got the victory in the circle to move to 1-0 this season. Streigle collected her 24th career pitching victory. Olivia Moyer got the final out for her first save of the season and second of her career.
 
The Bearcats were able to overcome five errors in the game.
 
 Northwest will be back in action on Saturday at the Alvy Early Classic with games against Upper Iowa (11 a.m.) and Arkansas Tech (1:30 p.m.).