New Ulm, MN -- This evening, the softball team from North Central University (NCU) traveled to New Ulm, Minnesota to conclude their series against the Martin Luther College (MLC) Knights. The series began last week as they competed in a doubleheader, where they split the series with a loss of 4-6 and a 4-3 win. Tonight, the Rams would take the series as they defeated the Knights with a score of 13-4. This is Softball's first UMAC series win since defeated Crown 3-0 in 2013.

After a quiet first inning, North Central's bats came alive in the top of the second. Sophomore Erica Gilles led off with a single, followed by a hit from Addison Schroer to put two on. Sophomore Karmen Dotson delivered the first blow with a clutch RBI double, opening the scoring. Erma Ramirez added a groundout RBI, and senior Kelsey Henninger capped the rally with a run-scoring single. Senior Aurora Prettyman added an RBI double to make it 4-0 after the top of the second. Martin Luther managed to scratch across a run in the bottom of the inning, but NCU quickly answered with another four-run burst in the third. Freshman Kaitlyn Havens singled to start the rally, and Gilles followed with another base knock. Schroer drove in Havens with a single, and Dotson drove in two more with a base hit to right. A sacrifice fly by Henninger brought home the final run of the inning, making it 8-1. North Central's only quiet inning came in the fourth, but the Rams didn't let up for long. In the fifth, Schroer singled for her third hit of the day and advanced to third on a fielding error. Dotson and Henninger each added RBI groundouts and singles, while Havens and Gilles continued the offensive barrage with RBI hits. Three of NCU's five runs in the inning were unearned due to defensive miscues, but the Rams took full advantage, pushing the score to 13-2. The hosts added a couple of runs in the bottom half of the fifth, but Schroer shut the door with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game in 5 innings. 

Top Performers:

• Adison Schroer (Fr., P): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K | 3-3, 1 RBI, 3 R
• Kelsey Henninger (Sr., CF): 2-2, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 SF
• Karmen Dotson (So., RF): 2-3, 4 RBI, 1 R, 2B

Looking Ahead:

NCU will conclude the regular season in a series against the University of Minnesota-Morris (UMM), which begins with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 3rd. The games will start at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on softball and all things NCU Athletics.