#22 Missouri-St. Louis (40-11): 2
Southern Indiana (29-21): 1
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ALLENSDALE, Mich.—In a game that featured a one hour, 50-minute rain delay, the University of Southern Indiana softball team suffered a 2-1 setback to No. 22 University of Missouri-St. Louis in the opening round of the NCAA II Midwest Region #2 Tournament Friday afternoon.
With rain steadily coming down in the bottom of the first inning, sophomore hurler
Brooke Harmening uncharacteristically issued four walks as the Tritons took a 1-0 lead prior to the rain delay, which took place with the bases loaded and a 3-1 count on Missouri-St. Louis freshman Katie Schultz.
“It didn't affect her mentally, but it was so cold and so wet that she couldn't get any type of grip on the ball,” USI Head Coach
Sue Kunkle said of Harmening in the first inning.
Harmening (20-12), who issued a season-high seven walks, settled down following the rain delay as she induced a groundout to get the Screaming Eagles out of the jam and keep the Tritons to just one run.
Softball vs. UMSL (5/10/13) Gallery
USI (29-21) answered in the third inning as junior
Teri Newmaster and freshman
Janna Green had bunt singles to put runners at first and second. Harmening followed two batters later with an RBI-single into centerfield. The single extended Harmening's hit streak to 11 games and tied the contest at 1-1.
The Eagles loaded the bases with a walk to junior
Kelsey Jankowski in the next at-bat, but a called third strike on freshman
Kaitlyn England prevented the Eagles from adding to their run total.
A two-out walk in the bottom of the third inning led to what turned out to be the game-winning run for Missouri-St. Louis.
The Tritons (40-11) followed the free pass with three consecutive singles as sophomore Madison Zbaraschuck scored on a single by fellow classmate Katie Wood.
Harmening, who gave up six hits while fanning six batters, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning to keep the Eagles' deficit at a run, giving the Eagles an opportunity in the final inning.
A two-out walk to freshman
Toni Braun nearly led to the game-tying run as Braun reached second on a passed ball before scampering to third base on a wild pitch. But Green, who fouled off two pitches to extend her time at the plate, flew out to centerfield for the final out.
“We left some runners on base that (turned out to be) crucial,” Kunkle said. “We started executing offensively later in the game, but just waited a little too long.”
Freshman Hannah Perryman (24-5), the GLVC Pitcher of the Year and NCAA II strikeouts leader, was dominant in the circle for the Tritons. Perryman scattered four hits throughout seven innings while recording 13 strikeouts, including four in the second inning—USI junior
Kyla Gogel struck out swing, but reached first on a passed ball.
The Eagles play Ferris State University in the elimination bracket Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (CDT), with the winner advancing to face the loser of the contest between Missouri-St. Louis and Grand Valley State University Saturday at 4 p.m. Ferris State (29-15) suffered an 8-4 loss to Grand Valley State in the first round Friday afternoon.
