ALLEN, Texas – Northwest softball had a historic day, taking two games to start the season on Friday, for the first time in the school's 10 seasons.
 
Northwest held off Southwestern Assemblies of God, 8-6, and rallied late to take down York, 3-2. The Eagles got key two-run home runs in both games.
 
"We came out relaxed and ready to play today and had fun. Our pitchers did really well today, and we put the ball in play. I was proud of the way they came out and played hard." 
 
NU 8, SAGU 6
Northwest scored five runs in the top of the first and picked up the win behind the pitching of freshman Bella King, who went the distance. King had two strikeouts and allowed three earned and three unearned runs.
 
Jessica Nunes had a two-run single after a two-run double by Jordan Dippel in the first inning.
 
Ashley Carter singled in a run in the top of the third to put the Eagles ahead 6-3. SAGU tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Nicola Fish launched a two-run home run in the top of the sixth for the final margin.
 
The NU outfield came up big with left fielder Madisyn Leffle gunning down a runner at home and Dipple initiating a double play after running down a line drive in center field.
 
Alyssa Maldonado had four hits in five at-bats to lead the Eagles. Fish, Kayla Stanley, and Dippel had two hits each.
 
NU 3, York 2
The Eagles struggled to find their offense early on and fell behind 1-0 before Maldonado tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jessica Nunes in the fifth inning. 
 
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth, but NU got a bunt single by Leffle ahead of a two-run home run by freshman Emily Barry in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Becca Rennick started for the Eagles and allowed an unearned run over five innings of work, striking out eight. Sydney Mauer picked up the win in relief, going two innings and allowing one unearned run.
 
NU got a nice defensive game from catcher Stanley, who picked one runner off at third and gunned down a runner at the plate after retrieving a wild pitch.
 
The Eagles continue play in the invitational Saturday with games at 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. (Pacific) against McPherson and Huston-Tillotson.