McKINLEYVILLE — Three solo home runs helped Humboldt State bounce back in the second game and earn a split of its softball doubleheader with Western Oregon on Wednesday.
Lindsay Warren, Giavanna Hampton and Kirsten Nouzovsky all belted homers, lifting the Jacks to a 6-1 victory. In the opener, the Wolves scored two runs in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie, and Amanda Fleer added a home run in the seventh to give WOU a 4-1 win.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Gracie Perez suffered the loss in the first game, giving up nine hits while striking out five and walking none. Freshman Kelsey White picked up the win for WOU, scattering three hits, including a home run by HSU's Nikki Ketteringham on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning.
Freshman Vaneza Hoover was the Jacks' winning pitcher in the second game after surrendering four hits, striking out four and walking two. The only run scored off Hoover came in the first inning, when Miranda Little singled, moved to third on Bailey Ruek's double, and scored on a single to left by Stephanie Albrecht.
Humboldt State tied the game on Hampton's home run in the bottom of the first, then took the lead with three runs in the second. Warren led off that frame with her homer to left, and Geneva Perrine singled and scored on Felicia Vivieros' single. Pinch runner Nichole Parada came home on a throwing error.
Nouzovsky's homer in the third added the Jacks' fifth run, and Ally Blenis scored the final run in the sixth when she was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Courtney Hiatt's double and came home on a wild pitch.
The Lumberjacks, 9-9 on the season, hope to squeeze in a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheaders against Chico State this weekend. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Saturday's at 11 a.m.