ST. CLOUD, Minn. – University of Sioux Falls Softball split a doubleheader with region opponent Emporia State in St. Cloud, Minn. on Friday afternoon. The Cougars improve their record to 7-4 on the season after winning game one 3-0 then dropping the second leg of the doubleheader, 4-1.
 
Game one: Sioux Falls 3, Emporia State 0
Sioux Falls won their fifth straight game on the back of a stellar pitching performance and a two-run homerun by Kerrigan Hoshaw for a 3-0 win over Emporia State. Hoshaw threw six shutout innings to earn her third win of the season and Breanna Black tossed a shutout seventh inning to record her third save of 2017.
 
After a 1-2-3 top of the first inning from Hoshaw, she provided all the runs the Cougars would need with one swing of the bat in the bottom half of the inning.  Sydeny Nieveen singled with one out and after a strikeout, Hoshaw hit her third homer of the season, giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
 
Hoshaw sat the Hornets down in order and allowed just one hit in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings, but the Cougars couldn't build on their lead with ESU's starter settling in after a two-run first inning.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, USF added an insurance run to push their lead to 3-0. Emma Schifferle singled with two outs and Nieveen doubled to left field, scoring her teammate. Hoshaw tossed another hitless frame to finish her time in the circle and Black came in, allowed one hit with two outs then closed the game with a groundout.
 
Game Two: Emporia State 4, Sioux Falls 1
USF Softball was held to five hits while Emporia State erupted for nine to split the series by handing the Cougars a 4-1 defeat in game two. Five different Cougars recorded a hit, including Kerrigan Hoshaw hitting her second homerun of the day, but USF starter Courtney Mathews was saddled with the loss after four innings of work
 
Jasmine Ragusi hit a double in the bottom of the first after Mathews worked a shutout inning to start the game, but USF couldn't score and Emporia State seized the opportunity with a run in the second. The Hornets added another tally in the third, building a 2-0 lead before Hoshaw blasted a dinger in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Cougars' deficit in half.
 
Breanna Black came on in the fifth inning and avoided any damage despite an error. In the bottom half of the inning, Megan Peterson singled and Britni Broussard reached on an infield base-hit, but both were stranded to end the inning. ESU added two more run in the top of the sixth on a two-out double, pushing their lead to 4-1. USF was held hitless in the bottom of the sixth and Black returned the favor with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. With one out, Kenna Heath recorded a double to left field, but USF couldn't erase their deficit and fell 4-1.
 
The Cougars resume the season over Spring Break with a trip to Clermont, Fla., where they will play eight games from March 10-14.