ST. JOSEPH – All it took was two Shelbie Atwell RBIs. There were just 20 innings and more than six hours of softball around the senior's two game winners that stretched Griffon Softball's win streak to seven on Thursday night.
 
Missouri Western (14-17, 5-1) rallied back to take both games (3-2 and 7-6) and first place in the MIAA standings from Northeastern State (16-13, 4-2). The Griffons' sweep left them in a three-way tie atop the conference leaderboard with Washburn and Northwest Missouri.
 
Atwell ended game one with a two-out RBI-single to left in the 10^th inning of game one. Her game one winning hit almost wasn't as it went in and out of the glove of a diving Sierra Crick in left field. Markee Brown dashed home for the winner in game one. In game two, Atwell bounced a ball to the first baseman who threw home where Tamara Hicks slid under the slide of the catcher for a 7-6 win.
 
Kenzie Hilzer set the stage for the heroics in game one, pitching all 10 innings, and allowing just two Northeastern State runs on 10 hits. She struck out four and walked one to move to 8-7 on the season. Kaili Hinds (4-6) went all 10 innings in game two, striking out eight. Northeastern State touched Hinds for six runs in the second inning, but the freshman retired 11 straight between the end of the NSU second and the top of the sixth.
 
Missouri Western trailed 2-0 after the 4 ½ in game one, but tied it up in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from Atwell and Morgan Frost. The comeback in game two was much slower as Missouri Western scored one in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth before a two-out, two-run home run by Gabi Carter tied the game at six in the bottom of the sixth.
 
DOUBLEHEADER NOTABLES

• The Griffons' win streak hit seven games and moved the team into a three-way tie for first place in the MIAA standings with Washburn and Northwest Missouri
• Hilzer and Hinds combined to allow eight runs on 20 hits over 20 innings with 12 strikeouts and just four walks
• The doubleheader went more than six hours
• Lonnie Groves went 5-for-10 at the plate with a double and an RBI
• Morgan Frost was also 5-for-10 with a run scored, a double and an RBI
• Hicks went 4-for-10 with two runs scored and two doubles
• Atwell went 2-for-8 with a run scored and a team-high three RBIs

 
UP NEXT
Central Oklahoma (18-13, 7-3) comes to St. Joseph for a Friday morning doubleheader. The games are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., Friday.