MOLINE, ILL. - A hard-fought Region 4 softball doubleheader ended in a split Friday as Madison College traveled to take on Black Hawk College. The host Braves held on for a 6-5 win in the day's first game, and the WolfPack responded with a 6-4 decision in the nightcap to remain .500 on the season. The Pack still boasts a 12-2 lead in the all-time series after the teams have split back-to-back doubleheaders.

Game #1: Black Hawk College 6, Madison College 5

The WolfPack put a run on the scoreboard first with a pair of two-out hits in the top of the second. Jenna Redders tripled to right and then scored on Chariell Butler's single through the right side. The slim lead did not last long as BHC responded with four runs in the home half. A three-run homer off righthander Hannah Aldrich put the Braves in front, and a run-scoring single pushed the differential to 4-1. 

Madison punched right back in the third, which saw a pair of singles and a walk load the bases with one away. Freshman Madison Coubal stepped the plate, and after Sammy Nelson scored on a passed ball, Coubal doubled to left to bring in Sophie Rivera and Makenna Gish and even the score at 4-4.

Black Hawk regained the edge with a two-run single in the fifth. Back-to-back base hits by Mackenna Schultz and Redders to start the sixth led to a run with a Karis Paulson grounder to left. With two runners on and just one away, the Pack had an opportunity to do more damage, but saw their next two players get out via a strikeout and fly out. Another opportunity in the seventh presented itself with two runners on and nobody out, however, the Braves produced a ground out and a game-ending double play to finsh off the win.

Nelson and Redders each had two hits and a run scored, and Ellie Rademacher was the third player to record two hits in the game. Coubal was 1 for 4 with a team-best two runs batted in.

Aldrich (3-4), a freshman, was tagged for six runs over six innings, with eight hits allowed and three strikeouts.

Game #2: Madison College 6, Black Hawk College 4

In game two it was Madison College (15-15) that produced the big scoring inning. Leading 2-1 after Karis Paulson doubled in Jenna Redders and Briar Armatoski in the third to answer a second inning run for BHC, the WolfPack peppered five base hits all over the field in the fourth and tallied four runs. Armatoski's double to left plated Mackenna Schultz, and Paulson, Sophie Rivera, and Kiana Patterson each followed with a RBI-single to make it 6-1.

Black Hawk College (17-18) made the Pack sweat it out, trimming the deficit to three with two runs in the fifth and making it a two-run score with another tally in the sixth. Despite a leadoff single that brought the tying run to the plate three times in the seventh, Patterson finished out her complete game win by retiring three straight batters.

Patterson, native of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, improved to a team-best 7-3 on the season and with her team-leading sixth complete game effort. She worked seven innings and struck out three batters, while also surrendering four earned runs on nine hits.

Three players combined for nine of the team's 14 hits. Paulson, Monroe, Wisconsin, native, was 3 for 4 with a game-high three RBI, while Armatoski, a sophomore from Amherst, Wisconsin, used her three base knocks to score two runs and drive in another. Rivera had three hits and a RBI. 

Follow WolfPack softball: Facebook | Twitter