SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--- The 17
th-ranked University of Southern Indiana softball team extended its winning streak to 4-0 following a sweep of Missouri University of Science & Technology Sunday in Springfield, Missouri.
The Screaming Eagles improve to 19-3 overall, 6-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while the Miners fall to 1-12 overall, 0-8 in GLVC play.
USI tallied a run in the top of the second, but the Miners would come back to score three for a 3-1 lead headed into the top of the fourth.
Sophomore
Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) produced an RBI-single in the Eagles' portion of the fourth, closing the gap to 3-2. USI came back in the fifth to score two more runs to take back the lead at 4-3.
A homerun by the Miners in the bottom of the fifth tied it up a 4-4, but the Eagles would rally back in the following frame and then again in the top of the seventh to seal their 6-4 win over the host team.
Junior
Sarah Owens (Indianapolis, Indiana) started in the circle for USI, facing
11 batters in two innings of work, before freshman
McKenzi Jordan (3-1) (Crawfordsville, Indiana) checked in to pitch, eventually earning the win for USI.
Brooke Harmening (Whiteland, Indiana), who was two-for-two with a homerun, picked up her third save of the year, coming in at the bottom of the seventh and tallying three-straight outs.
Senior
MacKenzi Dorsam (Dubois, Indiana) opened the second game with another leadoff homerun for a 1-0 lead. The Eagles would go on to score two more runs, for a 3-0 lead, in the opening frame, which also included a pitching change by the Miners.
Missouri S & T scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second, but USI came back in the top of the third to extend its lead again, this time off a sacrifice fly from Harmening that allowed sophomore
Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana) home for a 4-1 advantage.
The Eagles scored got another two on the board, for a 6-1 lead, off a single to left centerfield by Reese in the top of the fifth and returned in the sixth adding another two runs for a final score of 8-1.
Along with the save she picked up in the first game, Harmening earned the win during game two, improving to 12-1 on the season.
Next week, the Eagles travel to Lebanon, Illinois, for a two-game match against McKendree University Saturday at 2 p.m. before heading to Springfield, Illinois, the following day, to take on University of Illinois Springfield for another two beginning at Noon.
