Voyageurs run winning streak to eight games, By JOE KRAUSE, Sports Editor

Coming off of a pair of home sweeps this past weekend, the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs softball team won their seventh and eighth games in a row with a sweep of the Northland Community College Pioneers here Tuesday afternoon.
RRCC won each game in the bottom of the seventh inning taking game one 7-6 and game two 10-9.
"A couple of big wins, they are definitely character builders," Voyageurs head coach Dieter Humbert said.
The Voyageurs and the Pioneers battled in game one with neither team able to establish a large lead.
The game was tied at 6-6 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Jamie Janshen led off the inning with a double, advanced to third base on a Gina LaBlanc sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jenn Falk.
Janshen led the Voyageurs offensively going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Falk was 1-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs and pitched all seven innings giving up six runs on six hits and striking out nine.
Tasha Johnson got the start on the hill in game two and gave up four runs in the first inning and three in the second before settling into a rhythm and was able to keep the Pioneers off of the board until the top of the seventh inning.
The Voyageurs picked up three runs through the first four innings and exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning capped by a two-run homerun by Amanda Clark to give RRCC a 9-7 lead.
"Our defense kind of put us in a bind, but our offense pulled us out," Humbert said.
After giving up a lead-off walk to start the seventh, Johnson battled back and retired the next two batters, but a pair of hits knotted the game at 9-9 and Humbert put in Falk who pitched a third of an inning forcing a ground-out to end the inning.
"That’s how it goes sometimes," Humber said. "I am really proud of Tasha. She pitched well the whole game, we just didn’t play defense for her early. Once we got some defense behind her she got us off of the field pretty quick."
Falk led off the bottom of the seventh and hit a triple to the right field wall and was driven in by Clark who hit a single up the middle to end the game.
Clark finished the game 3-for-3 with two homeruns, four RBIs and three runs scored. The Voyageurs last loss was to the Pioneers and the team was looking to take out some frustration on the Pioneers pitching staff.
"We all struggled at the plate in the last game with them," Clark said. "I was just hoping not to strike out, I knew if I got the ball in play she (Falk) would make it home."
With the sweep the Voyageurs improve to 11-5 and will continue their play in the Minnesota Community College Conference Northern Division on Thursday when they host the Hibbing Community College Cardinals for a double-header starting at 3 p.m.