ELKHART – The bottom of their lineup put Northridge over the top Wednesday night.

The No. 5 Raiders got key production from its lower third of the batting order to top Elkhart Central 3-1 in a softball sectional semifinal game at Central.

Bailey O’Dell, the No. 9 hitter for the Raiders, came up the biggest. She smacked a two-run single in a three-run second inning to propel the two-time defending sectional champions back into the title game Friday night.

Mikayla Deisler added an RBI double in the second inning to make it 3-0. The Raiders put together four straight hits in the frame, including ones by No. 7 hitter Taylor Long and No. 8 hitter Brooke Maes.

Star senior pitcher Haley Nixon fired a two-hitter as Northridge improved to 25-2 on the season. The Indiana Wesleyan bound Nixon, who threw a no-hitter Monday in a sectional win over Goshen, had five strikeouts to run her season mark to 23-2 in the circle.

O’Dell and Maes each had two hits for Northridge, including a double by Maes.

Emily Namisnak had an RBI single in the fourth inning for Central. Brittney VanderHoek had a single and scored a run for the Blue Blazers.

Junior Audrey Garner turned in a strong pitching performance for Central.

The Blue Blazers, under the direction of first-year coach Brent Bardo, finish at 12-15.

Northridge, a semistate qualifier each of the last two years, will face Concord (20-8) Friday at 6 p.m. in the sectional final. Concord defeated Warsaw 8-1 Monday in the sectional semifinal bye game.

The Raiders beat Concord 5-0 in the sectional title game a year ago. The two Northern Lakes Conference foes split their regular-season series this spring with Concord.