BELLEVUE – Northwest ended a 22-game slide in the series and took both ends of an April Fools' Day doubleheader from eighth-ranked and defending NAIA champions Southern Oregon on Friday, 4-2 and 11-6.
 
"The girls showed a little bit of what they are capable of doing today, and I'm so proud of them," said NU Head Coach Pam Fink. "I feel like this team can hit with anybody. We've been praising God through our struggles, and now we can give Him thanks for some huge wins."
 
The wins were the first for the Eagles in the series with SOU since 2015 and the first doubleheader sweep of the Raiders since 2013. It is SOU's first Cascade Collegiate Conference series loss since 2019.
 
NU 4, SOU 2
 
Bella King picked up her sixth win of the season, going the distance and allowing just two runs while striking out two batters. 
 
The Eagles broke a scoreless tie in the third inning when Jordan Dippel singled in Ashley Carter for a 1-0 lead. Kayla Stanley plated Madisyn Leffle with a base hit, and Dippel scored on a grounder by Emily Barry.
 
Piper Love homered in the fifth for SOU, but Barry answered with a solo home run of her own in the home half of the inning.
 
Riley Donovan launched her 12th home run of the season for the Raiders in the sixth for the final margin.
 
The Raiders loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but King induced a 1-2-3 double-play grounder to end the game.
 
NU had nine hits in the game, including two each by Leffle and Alyssa Maldonado. Dippel, Stanley, Barry, and Sam Parisio had one each.
 
NU 11, SOU 6
 
Southern Oregon jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Eagles answered quickly.
 
Maldonado, Nicola Fish, and Parisio had consecutive RBI singles ahead of a two-run ground-rule double by Jessica Nunes for a five-run first for the Eagles.
 
SOU tied the game at 5-5 in the second with RBI singles by Deja Acosta and Donovan.
 
NU answered with a two-run second. Barry delivered the lead with a sacrifice fly, and Dippel scored from third on a wild pitch for a 7-5 lead.
 
SOU closed to within 7-6 in the fifth inning, but the Eagles scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to get some breathing room.
 
Leffle had an RBI single, Stanley plated a run with a grounder, and Barry singled home two runs for the final score.
 
The Eagles had eight hits, led by Maldonado with two. Leffle, Dippel, Barry, Fish, Parisio, and Nunes had one each.
 
Sydney Maurer got the win, allowing one earned run over five innings of work. 
 
NU and SOU finish off the series on Saturday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.