MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- Following a disappointing loss in game one North Central University softball bounced back to take game two and earn a split with The University of Northwestern on Tuesday. The Eagles breezed past the Rams 15-0 in the first game before a late three-run home run gave the Rams a 9-7 win in the finale at East Phillips Park.

In game one the Rams struggled in game one, both in the field and at the plate. Northwestern allowed just two NCU base runners off one hit and one walk. The Eagles also pounded the Rams with 16 hits while North Central committed three errors. But North Central found a way to respond in the second game.

North Central (2-16, 1-12 UMAC) held the Eagles off the scoreboard in the first and then plated five runs in the bottom of the first frame and led 5-2 after three innings. Northwestern would get in front in the fourth when they posted five runs on five hits but the Rams stayed in the game with another run in the bottom of the inning. A lead off walk from junior Megan Myers (Cannon Falls, Minn./Randolf) and an RBI double from freshman Amanda Roth (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) got the Rams within 7-6 through four innings.

Neither team got anything going in the fifth and the Eagles stranded a runner in the sixth before North Central made it's decisive surge in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Amanda Johnson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) led off with a hard hit single up the middle and freshman Abbey Erzberger (Brookfield, Wis./Heritage Christian) was hit by a pitch. Then with one out, Amanda Roth crushed a ball down the left field line that hit the foul poll about 10 feet above the fence line for a home run. North Central would get three more aboard but they were left stranded with the score 9-7 headed into the final inning. Amanda Roth stepped back into the circle and recorded two fly ball outs and sealed her first college pitching win with a strikeout to end the game.

Roth was 2-3 at the plate with a double, one home run, one walk and 4 RBI. She also picked up the win in the circle going all seven innings with five strikouts. Roth currently leads the UMAC in BA (.527), OBP (.554) and extra base hits (17) and is tied for tops in home runs (4). Megan Myers was 1-2 with a double and two walks. Amanda Johnson went 2-2 with a run scored.

North Central will be back in action at East Phillips Park this weekend in UMAC action. Friday the Rams host Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) in a double-header scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday NCU hosts Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) for a 1 p.m. double-header.