SIOUX FALLS – On the first day of the NSIC Tournament, University of Sioux Falls Softball split their first games to stay alive as one of eight teams to advance to day two. The Cougars (30-27) secured their 30th win of the season with a 7-5 victory over Northern State in their tourney opener. Battling against no. 2 seed Winona State in their second game, USF dropped a 9-4 decision.
 
Despite the loss in game two, USF remains in the double-elimination tournament and will face the winner of Bemidji State and Southwest Minnesota State, on Friday, May 5 at 10 a.m. at Sherman Park.
 
No. 7 Sioux Falls 7, No. 10 Northern State 5
Kerrigan Hoshaw tossed six strong innings and joined Jasmine Ragusi with two runs batted in as Sioux Falls held off Northern State in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Hoshaw picked up the win to move to 14-10 on the season while the Cougars notched their 30th win of the season, the fourth straight season with 30 or more wins since head coach Kelsey Thompson started her tenure at USF.
 
Four different Cougars recorded two hits each and Sioux Falls won their first game in the NSIC Tournament for the second time in three years. The victory also marks the third straight year in which USF has recorded at least one win in the conference tournament.
 
Hoshaw recorded a shutout inning, stranding a pair of Northern State runners and the Cougars pounced in their first opportunity at the plate. In the third pitch of the inning, Emma Schifferle blasted her third homerun of the year. Hoshaw helped her own cause with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
 
After giving up a hit in the first inning, Hoshaw didn't allow another until the sixth inning. With their starting pitcher dealing, USF added to their lead in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Britni Broussard tripled with Lindsey Mossman on second to score a run for Sioux Falls in the fourth.
 
The Cougars continued to stretch their lead with a pair of runs in the fifth, tallying three hits in the process. Sydney Nieveen led off with a single and Hoshaw drove her in two batters later with her 13th double of the season. Francesca Mickleson moved her to third with a single and Emily Hove scored her on an RBI groundout.
 
USF's two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth were needed as Northern State broke through against Hoshaw, scoring four runs to cut the Sioux Falls advantage to 5-4 with four hits and a Cougar error. After the surge by Northern State, USF responded, scoring for the third straight trip to the plate.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars manufactured two more runs with just one hit. Broussard reached on a fielder's choice and Schifferle walked and after both moved into scoring position on a Nieveen groundout, Ragusi drove both in with a single to put USF up 7-4.
 
The Cougars' insurance runs proved to be necessary as Northern State would threaten in their final at-bat. A leadoff homerun from Kaitlin Dilts cut USF's advantage to two runs, but reliever Breanna Black ended any chance of a rally with a game-ending double play by Brittany Hoffman and Hove up the middle, preserving the 7-5 victory and earning Black her seventh save of the year.
 
No. 2 Winona State 9, No. 7 Sioux Falls 4
Emily Hove and Kerrigan Hoshaw both came up with big two-RBI hits but a fifth-inning grand slam by Winona State handed USF a 9-4 loss. Hoshaw was handed the loss despite hitting her 11th homerun of the season, dropping her record to 14-11 on the season.
 
The second-seeded Warriors steadily built their lead with two runs in the first then adding their third tally in the bottom of the second. Drawing within one run, the Cougars struck twice in the top of the third, using Hove's clutch hit. Sydney Nieveen led off with a single and advanced to second on a groundout. Hoshaw followed with a single and her pinch runner Miranda White moved into scoring position by stealing second.
 
After a strikeout, Hove stepped up and drilled a two-out double off the left field fence to clear the bases and cut Winona State's lead to 3-2. Hoshaw kept WSU off the board the next inning, but USF was held scoreless in the top of the fourth. With the help of two USF errors, Winona State increased their lead to 5-2, but their extended cushion was short lived.
 
The Warriors switched pitchers and USF's hitters jumped on the new hurler. Nieveen led off with another hit and one batter later, Hoshaw fought off a series of rise balls before blasting a moonshot homerun over the left field fence, scoring herself and Nieveen to bring USF within one run again, down 5-4 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
 
As short-lived as Winona State's three-run lead was, the Cougars' one-run deficit was as short. Walks plagued the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth and a hit loaded the bases before Lani Van Zyl belted a grand slam to left field, extending their lead to 9-4.
 
Once Winona State's reliever settled in after giving up the homerun to Hoshaw, USF was held hitless over the final two frames, halting any comeback bid by the Cougars and handing them a 9-4 loss.