A walkoff double by Melysia Ortega lifted Dakota Wesleyan past Northwestern 4-3 in game two of a conference doubleheader played today in Mitchell, S.D. The hosts came away with an 8-3 in game one and dropped Northwestern to 7-7 in the GPAC, 20-19 overall.

Tied at three, Paige Kinley led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and advanced to second on a groundout by Alize Martinez. Ortega then came to the plate and hit a double off Northwestern senior pitcher Morgan Means (8-10) for the walkoff win.

Means scattered nine hits and four runs in 6.1 innings in the loss.

Jessica Rayela paced the Red Raiders' offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the first inning. Bri Petrauskas added two hits, including an RBI double, and Mons Figueroa went 1-for-2 and had an RBI. 

Lorissa Loeppky (7-7) did not allow a run over the final six innings to earn the win. She gave up three hits, walked four and struck out five. Sierra Haage pitched the first one-plus innings and gave up four hits and all three runs. 

Kinley and Ortega both had two hits for DWU.

Dakota Wesleyan scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away and earn an 8-3 win in game one. 

With the Tigers up 3-0, Northwestern came back with two runs in the fifth. Katie Elliott led off with a walk and came around to score on a triple by Mons Figueroa, her first of the season. Jaclyn Smith followed with an RBI single, cutting the DWU lead down to one at 3-2.

The Tigers put the game away with a five-hit, five run sixth inning. Martinez had a two-run single and both Elise Sutherland and Sierra Haage hit run-scoring singles. 

Kayla Tindall (12-9) gave up eight hits and seven earned runs in six innings for the loss. She walked two and struck out four. 

Haage (7-14) picked up the win, giving up eight hits and three runs in the full seven innings. 

Both teams totaled eight hits; Northwestern was led by Rayela (2/4), Smith (1/3, RBI) and Figueroa (1/4, RBI).