BALFOUR HOMERS IN HAWKS LOSS TO NO. 3 BEARS

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College softball team was back at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park Tuesday to complete their four-game series with No. 3 Des Moines Area Community College. The Bears took Game 1 by a final score of 11-1 and downed the Hawks 2-1 in Game 2.

Northeast (4-8, 0-4 ICCAC) was led in Game 1 by Abby Balfour (Nebraska City, Neb.), whose homer in the bottom of the first inning gave the Hawks an early advantage on the scoreboard. The Bears would rally back and had the game wrapped up in just five innings.

DMACC had a much tougher battle in Game 2 as Northeast was right with the Bears throughout the entire contest. Mia Eickhoff (Redondo Beach, Calif.) doubled in the third inning and then Taylor Schmidt (Norfolk, Neb.) singled later in the frame to score Eickhoff. Tara Koch (Norfolk, Neb.) was excellent on the mound for Northeast as she went the full seven innings and held the Bears to their lowest run total of the series.

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head softball coach Iris Woodhead on her team having their best game of the series in the fourth meeting of the two squads:

"That's what we are looking for," Woodhead said. "We want to get better from Game 1, better from Game 2, better from Game 3. Game 4 proved that you shouldn't count us out. Don't count us out in that fourth game."

Woodhead on what she is excited about heading into tomorrow's matchup:

"Emilee (Spitz) pitched well in the first game," Woodhead said. "Tara (Koch) did awesome. We had a couple of passed balls that led to them getting into scoring position, but if we pitch like that tomorrow, we are going to be tough."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will head to Southeast Community College for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. tomorrow in Beatrice, Nebraska.

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