HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Softball team rallied in the back-half of the final game of their weekend series with Dickinson State, battling back for a walk-off win to secure a series split on Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

While things didn't go their way in the first game of the day, the Fighting Saints (8-10, 3-5) sent their purple-clad supporters home plenty happy, with a thrilling come-from-behind win in the series finale over the Blue Hawks (16-12, 4-4), thanks to an Ella Seaman (Belgrade, Mont. / SO) walk-off.

GAME ONE: Dickinson State 6, Carroll 2

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A big second inning for the Blue Hawks, paired with a lack of production at the plate for the Saints led to a 6-2 win for Dickinson State to grab a 2-1 advantage in the weekend series.

Brooke Lijewski broke the scoreless tie in the second, blasting a solo shot to left field to begin what would be a very consequential inning for the Blue Hawks. A pair of walks and an error over the next four batters loaded up the bases with just one away, and DSU would take advantage. Stocktyn Stevenson drove in a pair of runs on an RBI single up the middle, and following another series of walks Octavia Meyer would match it with a nearly identical two-RBI roller over second later in the frame to give the Blue Hawks a commanding 5-0 lead, and knock Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / SR) out of the game in the process.

The lead would stretch to six in the fourth inning, as Dickinson State's Kiley Hubby added a solo home run to left field.

Carroll's first hit of the afternoon wouldn't come until the fourth inning. Tayelynn Puyleart (Meridian, Idaho / FR) broke the Blue Hawk no-hit bid up with a liner into center, and was brought home two batters later on a Brooke Thompson (Billings, Mont. / JR) RBI single up the middle to make things 5-1.

Taylor Sayers (Helena, Mont. / SO) came up mere inches short of a homer in the bottom half of the fifth. Her blast to left-center rattled off the top of the fence, resulting in an RBI double to trim the lead to 6-2, but the Saints would go down in order over the following two frames as the Blue Hawks claimed the win.

McKinley Ermshar (Battleground, Wash. / SO) was impressive in relief. Her strong showing saw her go 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out four of her 20 batters faced.

The Saints struggled at the plate throughout, finishing with just four hits in the loss (Sayers, Puyleart, Thompson, Slater).

GAME TWO: Carroll 8, Dickinson State 7

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Down, but never out. The Saints showed they have plenty of fight in a thrilling comeback win in the finale. After trailing by five early in the game, Carroll put up seven runs over the final four innings to pick up their gutsiest win of the season.

Much like the first-leg of the doubleheader, the Saints dug a hole early. For the second-straight game, the Blue Hawks put up five runs over the first two innings, knocking out the starter (Ermshar) before the third.

Kiley Hubby got the scoring started with an RBI single in the first, and then both Stocktyn Stevenson and Celina Wilharm added two-RBI doubles in a four-run second frame for the Blue Hawks. Brooke Thompson ignited the Carroll comeback in the bottom half of the second, however, ripping the longest homer of the weekend deep over the fence in left to put Carroll on the board at 5-1.

DSU got the run back in the fourth on a Lijewski RBI single, but Carroll had a response in the back-half of the frame. Thompson came up with her second big hit of the night, a double in to right field. Sammie Labrum (Kalispell, Mont. / SR) moved her to third with single in the next at-bat, leading to a Madison Walker (Ridgefield, Wash. / JR) sac-fly. Carlee Smith (Blackfoot, Idaho / JR) cut the lead in half, driving home Labrum with an RBI single to make it 6-3 after four.

The Blue Hawks added a run in the top of the fifth, but again, the Saints had an answer in the bottom. Thompson drove home her team-leading 17th RBI of the season on a single into center, and then Labrum added another RBI single one batter later. DSU made a pitching change, re-inserting starter Reagan King, and Madison Walker wasted little time adjusting. The transfer shot a triple down the right field line, bringing home both Labrum and Thompson to cap-off a four-run frame, knotting the game up at 7-7 heading into the sixth.

Mackenzie Depaoli (Fernley, Nev. / JR) worked her way out of a pair of jams over the final two frames, navigating early base-runners and holding the Blue Hawks scoreless, and hitless, to set the stage for Ella Seaman's late-game dramatics.

Thompson's final hit of her perfect 4-4 game at the plate led-off the seventh for the Saints, and she advanced to second on a throwing error in the process. Walker moved her over to third with a grounder on the right side, giving Seaman a shot to end it with two outs. Seaman, who was subbed-in in the third inning, sliced one just over the glove of the Blue Hawk right fielder, sending the healthy Carroll crowd in attendance into a frenzy.

The walk-off was Seaman's second career game-winner on home turf. The sophomore came up with a two-RBI off in the first-ever game played at Nelson Stadium last season, an 11-10 win over College of Idaho.

Seaman got the walk-off, but Brooke Thompson was far-and-away the game's MVP. The junior was 4-4 on the night with two RBI and a homer, while also getting the bulk of the innings in the circle. Thompson came on in relief in the second, going 3.0 innings with just two runs allowed (one earned), and six hits surrendered.

The Saints will make their longest conference road trip of the season next weekend, heading to Nebraska for a four-game series at Bellevue next Friday and Saturday.