Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney softball team belted four homers, including a solo shot by freshman catcher Erin Dwyer in the top of the 8th inning, to  beat Washburn, 11-10, Friday afternoon in Topeka, Kans.
 
The Lady Blues (5-11, 1-1) took advantage of two UNK (5-11, 1-1) errors to score five unearned runs to win the first game, 7-4.
 
Thanks to back-to-back homers by junior third baseman Sarah Rome (2 for 5) and sophomore right fielder/pitcher Brittnie Kreiser (Council Bluffs, Ia.), the Lopers scored three in the sixth to erase an 8-7 deficit.
 
However, with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh, Washburn tied things up as Amanda Kirkhart smacked an RBI single and a Loper error in the outfield allowed the tying run to score.  On the day, UNK's seven errors led to 11 runs for Washburn.
 
Dwyer, who finished 4 for 5 with four RBI's and three runs scored, hit a one out homer in extra innings to provide the winning margin. In the fifth, the Elwood native hit a two-run shot for her first collegiate dinger.
 
Kreiser (1-1) earned the win in relief by allowing four earned in five innings. An 18-hit Loper attack also saw freshman first baseman Katie Ruwe (Blair) go 2 for 5 with three RBI's.
 
Washburn score five of its seven runs in the first inning of game one; all came with two out and after a UNK error prolonged the inning. Iowa State transfer Lauren Thimmesch hit a three-run shot and then Kristen Bell hit a two-run homer to give the Blues a three-run lead.
 
Rome (2 for 3) led off the Loper fifth with a homer with Kreiser having a two-run single in the first.
 
UNK heads to Emporia State on Saturday