Spartanburg, S.C- The Wofford softball team (11-5) lost an extra inning battle against North Dakota (7-7) by a 7-4 score after nine innings at Hope Field on Tuesday night. 

Margaet Axelson took the circle for the Terriers and pitched all nine innings of the game. She allowed nine hits on seven runs with nine punch outs as the Fighting Hawks got to her in the late innings. 

The Terriers took the lead early when in the first inning a Hope Ingle RBI put the Terriers up 1-0. In the fourth frame North Dakota responded by a sharply hit line drive triple over the right-fielder which scored a runner. Then, Wofford traded an out for a run to put the deficit to 2-1.  

North Dakota added to their lead in the top of the seventh to extend the score to 3-1. The Terriers tied it up in the bottom of the seventh, first with a Hope Ingle double driving in pinch runner Desirae Devine and then, after a nine pitch at-bat, Gracie Parker tied the game with an RBI single to move the game into extra innings.  

In the eighth, both teams would trade runs with Wofford scoring on a suicide squeeze play to send the game into the ninth inning. Wofford ran out of gas as Axelson was well over 120 pitches and the team surrendered three runs in the top of the frame. In the ensuing bottom half of the inning, the Terriers could not amount an answer for the 7-4 final margin. 

Wofford will return to action tomorrow, February 28, as they take on Buffalo at 3:00 pm and Tennessee State at 5:30 pm at Hope Field.