CLAREMORE, Okla. - The Rogers State softball team closed out the home portion of its 2009 schedule with a doubleheader split against Southern Nazarene Thursday at the Hillcat Complex.
 

The Hillcats were held scoreless by SNU starter Andrea Pare in a 2-0 shutout in the opener. Seniors Lillian Nevarez and Megan Wood belted home runs in the nightcap to lead RSU to a 6-5 victory and a series split on Senior Day in Claremore, Okla..

GAME ONE
 

Pare outdueled RSU starter Jenny Johnson to post a 2-0 win in a game that featured just seven hits to open the afternoon.
 

Aubrey Jones put the Crimson Storm in front with a solo homer to left field in the second inning and added an insurance run when she tripled and scored on a single by Nikki Kelley in the seventh. That was all the run support Pare would need as she surrendered only two hits in a complete-game shutout performance.

Singles by Sara Walkup and Katie Bointy were the only tallies for RSU. The Hillcats stranded six runners in the contest. Johnson took the loss despite giving up just two runs on five hits over seven innings.

GAME TWO
 

The Hillcat bats came alive in a big way and RSU withstood a furious seventh-inning comeback by the Storm to earn a 6-5 win in the nightcap.
 

The Cats finally broke through for a run against Pare when Nevarez roped a solo homer over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game, 1-1. Tanya Koch led off the fifth with a walk and Megan Wood followed with a two-run bomb to give RSU its first lead of the day. Johnson scored Nevarez on a sacrifice fly and Koch delivered a two-run single in the sixth to stretch the margin to 6-1.
 

However, SNU mounted a huge rally in the top of the seventh and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback. The Crimson Storm opened the seventh with six consecutive hits to cut the lead to one. Johnson somehow escaped the jam despite SNU putting the tying run at third base and the potential winning run at second base with no outs. Pare popped out to first base and Keli Billups grounded out to first without advancing either runner. After a walk to Jones to load the bases, Johnson got Kelley to line out to right field to end the game.
 

Johnson (24-16) earned the win after giving up five runs, four earned, in seven innings of work. Pare (20-5) suffered the loss after yielding six runs, four earned, over six innings pitched. Wood paced the RSU offense with two hits and two runs scored.
 

RSU seniors Wood, Nevarez, Johnson and Walkup all tallied at least one hit in their final home games at the Hillcat Complex. Senior Natalie Smith also enjoyed a standout game defensively at second base.
 

Rogers State (26-18, 9-11) will travel to Springfield, Ill., this weekend to participate in the University of Illinois-Springfield Tournament Saturday and Sunday.