(Sortable)
at Southern Indiana (11-5, 4-0 GLVC): 13, 7
Missouri S&T (5-12, 4-2 GLVC): 0, 6
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Game 1 (5 innings) |
Game 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team erupted for a combined 20 runs off 21 hits as it swept a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader from visiting Missouri University of Science & Technology Saturday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.
USI (11-5, 4-0 GLVC) scored 11 times in the bottom of the first inning as it took game one, 13-0, in five innings. The Screaming Eagles rallied from 3-1 deficit and held off a late Missouri S&T charge to win the second game, 7-6.
In game one, the Eagles sent 17 batters to the plate and racked up nine hits in the first frame as they took a commanding 11-run lead. USI also took advantage of three Missouri S&T errors in the inning as it essentially wrapped up the game-one victory in its first turn at the plate.
Sophomore outfielder
Kyla Gogel went 2-of-2 in the first inning with a double and three RBIs, while freshman second baseman
Kara Werner, who was 2-of-4 at the plate with three RBIs in the game, had a two-run single in the opening frame.
In total, seven different players had RBIs in the first inning for the Eagles, giving freshman pitcher
Brooke Harmening more than enough run support to earn her team-leading sixth win of the year.
Harmening (6-4), who earned the save in game two, allowed just one hit and four base runners in the opening game as she earned the complete-game shutout. She came on in the seventh inning of game two to get the Eagles out of a bases-loaded jam to record her first-career collegiate save.
After senior third baseman/designated player
Kristen O'Haver put the Eagles up, 1-0, on an RBI-single in the first inning of game two, the Miners scored three unanswered runs to forge a brief two-run advantage.
Missouri S&T (5-12, 4-2 GLVC), which scored a tally in the top of the second frame to tie the game, used a two-run home run off the bat of junior catcher Kaylea Smith to take a 3-1 lead in the third inning.
USI got back-to-back doubles from junior shortstop
Stephanie Bittner and O'Haver to begin the bottom half of the third inning. Bittner, who was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a single-game school-record three doubles, crossed the plate for the first of four USI runs in the third frame on O'Haver's double.
Freshman catcher
MacKenzi Dorsam pushed O'Haver across the plate for the second run of the inning, while freshman first baseman
Elizabeth Prince had a two-run single to complete the Eagles' scoring in the third inning and stake USI to a 5-3 lead.
After the Miners trimmed the Eagles' lead to 5-4 with a tally in the fourth frame, USI scored a pair of crucial runs in the sixth inning to increase its lead to three runs. USI capitalized on an error to score the first run of the inning; then got a run-scoring double from Dorsam to plate its seventh run of the game.
Missouri S&T used a lead-off single, a USI error, and a walk to load the bases with no outs in the seventh frame. Harmening gave up a run-scoring single to the first batter she threw to, but retired the final three batters she faced to end the threat and secure the Eagles' third straight win.
Sophomore hurler
Kelsey Jankowski (3-0) earned the victory after giving up four runs off seven hits in four innings of work.
The Eagles return to action Sunday at noon when they host GLVC West Division-leading Drury University in a doubleheader at the USI Softball Field. The Panthers (15-4, 6-0 GLVC) swept Kentucky Wesleyan College, 6-3 and 9-0, Saturday in Owensboro, Kentucky.
