BRANSON, MISSOURI - Northwestern Oklahoma State Softball opened their 2025 season on the road in Missouri with a doubleheader with game one against Newman University before taking on Minnesota Crookston in game two.

The Rangers won game one by a final of 6-5 after a big fourth inning, before dropping game two 2-1 as Minnesota Crookston had a walk-off victory in game two, as the Rangers split the two games going to 1-1.

GAME ONE:
The Rangers had 11 hits in the opening game as Avery Clark had a team-high with three followed by three players with two each. Jadyn Muns had a team-high 3-RBI in the win.

Newman struck first early in the game with a first-inning run taking advantage of a Ranger error. After a walk and a stolen base put runners on first and third a Schreiner single to right field had the Jets in front 1-0. 

Rangers had a few base runners in the first couple innings, but it was the third inning when the Rangers tied the game on a Jadyn Muns solo home run to left field for the 1-1 game.

After Newman failed to score in the fourth inning leaving two base runners on base it was Northwestern's offense that stole the momentum. Avery Clark started the inning with a single before the Rangers loaded the bases. Macy Spearman hit an RBI single to short to give Northwestern the 2-1 lead. Muns followed by driving in two more runs with a double to left field for the 4-1 lead over the Jets. After a sacrifice fly and an error pushed the Northwestern lead to 6-1 following a five-run fourth inning. 

The score stayed the way into the sixth inning when the Jets tried to come back starting with back-to-back singles. This led to an RBI double by Dryden for the 6-2 Ranger lead. An RBI single by Noda scored two more runs for the Jets. Rangers escaped the inning holding onto a one-run lead at 6-5.

In the seventh inning, the Rangers pitching shut the door down with a perfect 1-2-3 inning from Chloe Brown to hold on to the 6-5 victory. 

GAME TWO:

In game two Macy Spearman and Kennedi Caine led the team with two hits each while Muns drove in the Rangers' run. 

The second game of the afternoon was a pitcher duel. Northwestern and the Golden Eagles battled through the opening innings with a scoreless four innings. Chloe Brown had two strikeouts and a 1-2-3 inning through the first three innings of play. 

Minnesota Crookston was able to strike first in the fourth inning after the Rangers got the first two outs of the inning a 2-out double led to an RBI single by Spencer putting Crookston in front 1-0. 

Rangers offense answered right back with a leadoff double by Caine set up the game-tying hit from an RBI single by Muns to even the score 1-1.

In the sixth inning, the Rangers were able to escape a jam from the Golden Eagles' offense looking to turn that into their chance. The top of the seventh started with a single by Caine followed by a double from Spearman for the second and third.

Minnesota Crookston was able to escape the Rangers' opportunity to score, keeping the game at 1-1 following a ground out and a pop-out. The Golden Eagles then won the game on a walk-off single following a Northwestern error that allowed the runner on second to reach. 

Northwestern closes out the weekend trip against Maryville on Saturday morning with the first pitch scheduled for 10:00 AM, followed by game two against Truman State at Noon.