ABERDEEN, S.D. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead softball team split a doubleheader with Northern State on Tuesday night to open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The Dragons won Game 1, 6-4 in eight innings while the Wolves held on for a 2-1 win in Game 2. The games were played at the Presentation Dome in Aberdeen, S.D.

MSUM is 7-12 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC while the Wolves are 9-15 overall and 1-1 in the league.

"It was great to start out conference play with a greatly executed game plan, especially after sitting for a couple weeks," MSUM head coach Amanda Reckamp said.

In the opener, junior third baseman Emma Dummer had a huge game, going 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. Redshirt freshman outfielder Samantha Gjerde was 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI and two runs scored. Freshman second baseman Kaiya Sundeen was a 1-for-4 with an RBI while junior designated hitter Payton Gaber, sophomore outfielder Elizabeth Johnson and freshman catcher Jordie McNeilly added hits.

Berth picked up the win, going eight innings and allowing four runs, three earned. She struck out two and walked five.

Trailing 4-3 with two out in the seventh, MSUM battled back to tie the game, thanks to an RBI triple by Sundeen, which scored freshman Jordey Smith, who was pinch running for Ally Helgoe, who had walked earlier in the inning.

Gjerde led off the eighth with a solo homer, her first as a Dragon, and Dummer followed with her second homer of the game to make it 6-4. Berth kept the Wolves off the scoreboard in the eighth to preserve the win.

In the sixth inning, Dummer got the Dragons on the board with a three-run shot, scoring Gjerde and Savannah Drey, who was pinch-running for McNeilly, who had singled with one out. The Wolves answered with a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead at 4-3.

That was the most complete game we have played all season and we finished it off with a comeback win," Reckamp said. "Big contributions from our defense and clutch hitting when we needed it helped us execute our game plan at a high level today."

In the second game, senior shortstop Taylor Roddie was 1-for-2 with a solo homer; she also walked and stole a base. Gaber and Sundeen were each 1-for-3.

Freshman Anna Lang took the loss, giving up one earned run in four innings. She struck out one and walked two. Berth pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

MSUM trailed 2-0 after five innings but Roddie hit a solo homer in the sixth to make it 2-1. MSUM threatened in the seventh, as Sundeen singled with one out and sophomore Ashley McCance walked with two out to put the go-ahead run on base. However a groundout ended the threat.

MSUM will return to Aberdeen this weekend for a pair of doubleheaders, starting on Saturday vs. Upper Iowa. The twinbill begins at 6 p.m. at the Presentation College Dome in Aberdeen.