ROSEMONT, Ill. – Missouri S&T's softball team gained a split on its first day of action at the Lewis Dome Invitational, knocking off Findlay 6-2 before seeing its five-game winning streak come to an end in a 7-4 loss to Walsh.

In their opening game of the day, the Lady Miners (7-4) jumped on top in the opening inning when Monica Weiss (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) led off with a hit and went on to third on a ground rule double by Courtney Jackson (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South).  Carley Hamman drew a walk to load the bases, then with one out, Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township) grounded out to drive in Weiss.

Findlay tied the game in the second on Destinee Keaton's solo home run, but S&T regained the lead in the fourth.  Following a leadoff double by Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central), Young walked and Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) singled to load the bases with nobody out.  Hannah Franceschini (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, then Young scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.

In the sixth, after Findlay had cut the S&T lead to one, the Lady Miners got that run back when Young reached third on an error and came in to score on a hit by Davis.  S&T tacked on two more runs in the seventh when Young knocked in two more with a two-out double.

Avery English (Carterville, Ill./Carterville) scattered six hits and struck out four in a complete game effort to pick up her sixth win of the season.  The Lady Miners outhit the Oilers 9-6 as four players had two hits apiece.

The Lady Miners' second contest also saw S&T grab a first inning lead on an RBI single by Egly, but Walsh got two runs in the second off Kati Viets (Sweet Springs, Mo./Sweet Springs) to take the lead.  The Cavaliers extended their lead with a run in the third and two-run innings in the fourth and fifth to go up 7-1.

S&T rallied in the bottom half of the fifth, starting when Jackson reached on a passed ball following a strikeout.  Hamman followed with a hit and Young hit a ground rule double to drive in Jackson, then the Lady Miners added two more runs to trim the lead to three.

An infield single by Davis brought home the second run of the inning, then Franceschini followed with a run-scoring single.  However, the rally ended with a fielder's choice and a strikeout and the Lady Miners did not get another runner on base in the final two frames.

Young had two of S&T's eight hits in the Walsh contest.

The Lady Miners continue their weekend in the Chicago area Saturday, when they face Grand Valley State and Winona State.  The S&T-Grand Valley contest is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., with the Winona State game to follow.