SUPERIOR, Wis. -- The UW-Superior softball team scored five runs in the third inning of the first game of its Upper Midwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Northwestern on Monday for a 7-1 victory, but the Eagles battled back in the second game to salvage a split with a 11-7 win at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
Freshman designated player Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) hit her fourth home run of the season -- a two-run blast to right field -- to tie for the league lead in the decisive third frame of the opener as the Yellowjackets overcame an early one-run deficit. Thomson finished the day 5-for-7 at the plate with a double to go with the homer and two runs scored.
 
UWS moves to 26-7 overall and 13-3 in the UMAC with the split and is tied with Bethany Lutheran atop the standings with five games to play.
 
Game 1 -- UW-Superior 7, Northwestern 1 
Superior's five-run rally in the third broke the game open with the help of three Northwestern errors and two hits. Norah Schmitz (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) and Olivia Bancroft-Hart (Cambria, Wis./Cambria-Friesland) both reached on errors to start the inning, prior to Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) walking to load the bases.
 
With Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) hitting, Schmitz scored on a passed ball to knot the game, 1-1. Tayler Kramer then grounded out to shortstop to score Bancroft-Hart from third. The throw to the plate was wild, allowing Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) to score from second on the play.
 
Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) then beat out an infield single to third base and advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for the Thomson dinger.
 
UWS added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth for good measure when Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) reached on a throwing error at second base, plating both Schmitz and her sister with two out.
 
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) went the distance in the circle, limiting the Eagles to seven hits and one earned run. She struck out two and walked three in 92 pitches. Briggs Carlson (7-6) took the loss, allowing five unearned runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
 
Thomson was 3-for-3 to lead the 'Jackets' seven-hit attack. Kirk went 2-for-4, as well, with Schmitz and Bancroft-Hart picking up hits.
 
Game 2 -- Northwestern 11, UW-Superior 7 
UWS held a 4-2 advantage through three innings in the second game before Northwestern (17-10, 11-3) plated four in the fourth and six more in the sixth to take an 11-4 edge. Northwestern again tallied a first-inning run, but the Superior tied it with a Bancroft-Hart RBI single to left in the second, and then got a run-scoring groundball from Kirk and RBI double to center field by Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) to take the lead, 3-1, in the third.
 
With one out and a run already home in the top of the fourth, UNW's Grace Bentley took a 1-1 pitch from Allison Luoma (Iron River, Wis./Northwestern) over the fence in left field for a three-run homer and 5-3 lead. 
 
The Eagles sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth, using a pair of errors and a three-run home run by Telma Roesler to center for separation.
 
The 'Jackets made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning, mounting a threat that included a two-run double by Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) to right-center field with no one out, but UNW's Emma Heffron retired Jessica Jacobson (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door), Schmitz and Bancroft-Hart to slam the door.
 
Heffron improved to 10-3 with a complete-game win in the circle. She allowed six earned runs, 11 hits and two walks in 125 pitches. Luoma (9-3) lasted one out into the fifth and surrendered nine hits and four earned with one walk and three strikeouts before Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) recorded the final five outs.
 
The Yellowjackets honored Kirk, Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) and three-year catcher turned student manager Davriana Horvath (Esko, Minn./Esko) in a postgame Senior Day ceremony for their contributions to the program.
 
Superior travels to Northland Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader.