JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State University softball team gained a pair of shutout victories Thursday in a non-conference doubleheader at Lincoln University.

Northwest took the first game, 8-0, in five innings and then topped Lincoln in game two, 3-0.

Northwest is 20-25 on the season. Northwest is 45-2 all-time against Lincoln. The Bearcats have defeated the Blue Tigers in 16 consecutive matchups.

GAME ONE
Erika Gore and Olivia Moyer combined on a two-hit shutout in the first game as the Northwest offense pounded out 11 hits and eight runs in five innings.

Gore moved to 2-3 on the season as she pitched four innings and allowed two hits. Gore struck out two batters. Moyer, a Jefferson City native, pitched in the fifth inning and struck out two of the three batters she faced. Neither of the Bearcat pitchers issued a walk in game one.

Omara Love, Skylar Pieper and Curstin Todd each posted two-hit games against the Blue Tigers. Love and Pieper each scored two runs. Grace Lubben drove in two runs to lead the squad.

Lubben started the scoring in the first as she doubled in Alexis Brown and Love with one out. Pieper would cross the plate later on a wild pitch. Gaige Pinkerton drove in Lubben with a two-out RBI single through the right side to put Northwest on top, 4-0.

Love and Pieper reached to begin the third inning. Malia Cuevas brought home Love with a sacrifice fly to center. Northwest executed a double steal to allow Pieper to score and gave Northwest a 6-0 advantage. Todd delivered a two-out RBI double that plated Gaige Pinkerton for a 7-0 lead.

Riahn Pinkerton kept a two-out rally alive in the fifth with a single to score pinch runner Mackenzie Mlnarik for an 8-0 cushion.

GAME TWO
Northwest relied on a trio of arms to silence the Lincoln bats in game two for a 3-0 win.

Jadyn Streigle went four innings for the victory to even her season mark at 8-8. Streigle allowed one hit as she faced 14 batters. Rien Moore pitched the fifth and sixth innings and allowed two hits to go along with a strikeout. Cassidy Paulson closed out the game to earn her first save of the season. Paulson struck out two batters and allowed a hit in the seventh.

Northwest generated the first run of game two in the third inning. Kaylee Cords led off with a double to right center. She moved to third on a single up the middle from Riahn Pinkerton. Curstin Todd served up an RBI single up the middle to score Cords for a 1-0 lead.

The Bearcats added to the lead in the fifth when Omara Love launched a ground-rule double to center that plated Lillie Filger and Alexis Brown for the 3-0 lead. Northwest managed only one more hit in the final two innings but the pitching held up for a three-run victory.

Love went 2-for-4 and Riahn Pinkerton went 2-for-3 to lead the Bearcat offense.

NOTES: Cassidy Paulson has recorded two saves in her Bearcat career ... Love went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader ... Love is tied for the team lead with 20 multi-hit games this season ... Love leads the squad with a .380 batting average ... Love has posted a team-best 61 hits ... Love ranks second on the team with 32 RBI (trailing Skylar Pieper with 33) ... Gaige Pinkerton and Grace Lubben are tied for the team lead in walks drawn (20) ... Streigle is 31-27 in 68 career appearances in the circle for the Bearcats ... Streigle is two wins away from joining the top-10 list in pitching victories in Bearcat history ... Northwest has reached 20 wins for the third straight season - the first time since doing that since the 2018 season.