RALEIGH, N.C. - The IUPUI softball team began the NC State Double Tree Invite with a 2-1 loss in nine innings to Ohio but bounced back for a shutout win against Bryant to cap the day. Kaitlynn Moody and Nickole Finch combined for the one-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs.

Ohio 2 - IUPUI 1

Offense was hard to come by in the first game of the tournament for both teams. In the second inning, a walk to Madison Claytor, gave the Bobcats their first base runner of the game. After a stolen base and a sacrifice fly put Claytor on third, Natalie Alvarez drove a ball to the center field wall to give Ohio the 1-0 lead.

Maggie Good singled in the second but a double play on the next at-bat ended the threat for the Jags.

The Jags finally got through in the bottom of the fourth with one out, when Roni Patterson hit a rocket over the left field fence to tie the game. 

Ohio (12-7) put a runner on third base in the top of the fifth but Brooke Boetjer got a ground out to third to end the threat. 

Another chance for IUPUI materialized in the sixth after Morgan Schlobohm and Taylor Chitwood reached base with one out. Patterson struck out in the next at-bat and Ali Mosier stepped to the place with a chance to give the Jags the lead. Schlobohm stole third to put the go-ahead run 60 feet closer but Mosier popped out to first base to end the inning.

In the seventh, Ohio put another runner at third, this time with two outs, but Boetjer got one of her 12 strikeouts on the day to keep Ohio off of the scoreboard. Boetjer (5-6) was solid again for the Jags going all nine innings only giving up two runs and lowered her ERA to 2..83.

Needing a run to win the game, Good walked to lead off the inning but three straight strikeouts sent the Jags in to extra innings for the second straight game.

Extra innings were played under the international tiebreaker rule meaning each team started the inning with a runner at second.

Ohio moved its runner over to third with one out but Boetjer stepped up and struck out the next two batters to give the Jags a chance at victory.

Things looked good for IUPUI in the bottom of the eighth. Delilah Wright singled to the third baseman which put runners on the corners with no outs. Only needing one run to win, Schlobohm popped up to the infield and Wright was picked off of first base for the second out. On the next at-bat Chitwood struck out to end the frame. 

The Bobcats took the one run lead in the top of the ninth on a single up the middle and three strike outs in the bottom of the inning ended the game for the Jags.

IUPUI 1 - Bryant 0

Again, offense was non-existent in game number two for the Jags (8-14) but they squeezed out a win behind great pitching from Kaitlynn Moody and Nickole Finch. 

Bryant got a hit on its second at-bat of the game but that was all the Bulldogs would muster the rest of the afternoon. Moody (2-4) shut down the Bryant hitters allowing only one hit over five innings while striking out three. Moody did walk four batters including the lead off hitters in third, fourth and fifth innings but managed to get out of each of those innings unscathed. 

After Moody, Nickole Finch came in and finished the rest of the game in impressive fashion. Finch was perfect facing the minimum six batters in her two innings of work with one strikeout, picking up her first save of the year. 

IUPUI's lone run came in the second inning after Maggie Good got one of two Jags' hits. Good stole second and then moved to third on a ground out by Kristin London. With Alyssa Neff up, a wild pitch brought home Good to give the Jags the 1-0 lead.

The Jags are back in action tomorrow at 12:30 ET against NC State before the teams will be seeded for a four team tournament.