CLAREMORE, Okla. — Trading big offensive outbursts, the Newman softball team split a doubleheader with Rogers State Thursday afternoon to open up a Heartland Conference series in Oklahoma.

The Jets (12-31, 6-8 Heartland) couldn't get the bats going in a 10-2 loss in the opener against the Hillcats (26-17, 5-9 Heartland), but turned it up with a big inning in the second game and held on for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.

In the second game, Newman went down early, but came back to tie it 1-1 in the third. There, Bayley Horsch led off with a double, and came around to score on Alyssa Taylor's single in the next at-bat. Kate Smith retired three straight after a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, setting up the Jets for their big frame in the fourth.

Jensen Cromer, Ariole O'Neal and Taylor Mannis recorded three straight singles to open the inning, and although Cromer was cut down at the plate on a fielder's choice, Newman followed by scoring five straight.

Horsch singled through the left side, and Taylor followed with her second big hit of the game, plating two with a double to the gap in right. Rachael Withers pushed Horsch home with an RBI groundout, and an error allowed Taylor to make it 6-1.

The Hillcats scored two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to cut it to a 6-5 game, but Smith was able to erase a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh with a double play to preserve the win.

In the opener, RSU put up crooked numbers in the second and fourth to build a 10-0 lead. The Jets began to get things going in the fifth, as Delaney Hiegert and Withers each singled, and two other Jets reached base with an error and a hit by pitch to help plate two runs.

Five different Jets had a hit in the first game, including O'Neal with a double. Cromer, Mannis, Horsch and Taylor all posted two hits in the nightcap, while Smith walked two and struckout six, working around nine hits to pick up her fourth win of the season.

Newman and RSU complete the series with a noon game Friday.