ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Softball team dropped both games of the doubleheader 0-23 and 0-10 to the University of Minnesota Morris Saturday afternoon in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play in Ashland, Wis.
 
The Cougars started fast scoring 11 runs before the Jills had an at-bat. The lead was too much for Northland to overcome as Minnesota Morris continued to score to win 23-0.
 
Northland tallied four hits in the contest. In the previous game, Elizabeth Montgomery recorded her first collegiate hit and followed that up by going 2-for-2 in the game. Janna Bode and Hailey Minnema had the other two hits.
 
Bode made the start on the mound. She recorded her first career strikeout in the first inning. Kennedy Gruhlke made her collegiate pitching debut in the third inning to finish out the game. Gruhlke pitched a scoreless fourth inning.
 
The LumberJills found themselves in the hole after the first inning, this time only down two after one. The first at-bat for NC had Bode reach on an error but was unable to score. The bats went cold as Northland would not have another baserunner for the rest of the game. The Cougars pulled away in the fourth with six runs and won 10-0 to complete the series sweep.
 
Miraya McFall started the second game for the Jills. The freshman totaled five strikeouts while only walking one batter and gave up one earned run. Alyssa Thornton pitched a no-hitter with Northland's only base runner coming from an error in the first inning.
 
The Jills will be on the road next week for a conference series with the University of Northwestern.
 
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.