MACOMB, Ill. (NDSU Athletics) – North Dakota State pounded out a season-high 14 hits and rolled to a 16-0 win over Western Illinois in the second game of a Summit League softball doubleheader Saturday, March 27, at McKee Stadium. Western Illinois won the opener 6-2.
The 16 runs were the most by an NDSU team since 2016. The Bison (6-16) opened the scoring with a two-run home run from Avery Wysong in the second inning before erupting for nine runs in the third and five more in the fifth.
North Dakota State got four straight two-out hits in the nine-run inning with Sam Koehn extending the inning with an RBI single, Cameryn Maykut belting a three-run double, and Nicole Licea following with an RBI triple before scoring on Emilee Buringa’s single.
Buringa was 3-for-3 with three runs scored to lead the Bison attack, Stephanie Soriano went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, Montana DeCamp was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, and Ciara Jensen also had two hits for NDSU.
Paige Vargas pitched all five innings for NDSU allowing three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in her 10th career shutout and first of the season.
Western Illinois (10-14) did most of its damage in the opener on a pair of home runs from Sydney Hollings, whose three-run shot in the first inning provided an early 3-0 lead and two-run shot in the third helped extend the lead to 6-0.
NDSU got two runs back in the fifth when Wysong brought in Koehn after a leadoff triple and later scored to make it 6-2.
Bison starter Lainey Lyle lasted two innings allowing five runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in the loss. Left-hander Mac Schulz struck out six in four innings of relief allowing one run on one hit.
North Dakota State and Western Illinois are scheduled to close out the four-game series with an 11 a.m. doubleheader Sunday, March 28.
