Somers, Wis. – The Missouri S&T softball team secured a berth into the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Softball Championship for the first time since 2010 as the Lady Miners finished up their regular season this Sunday (April 29) with a conference doubleheader split against Wisconsin-Parkside, claiming a 5-2 extra-inning victory over the Rangers in game one before falling 4-1 in the finale at the Case Softball Complex.
Missouri S&T, which earned a berth into the upcoming 2018 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament as a result of winning a tiebreaker with Rockhurst for the tourney's qualifying eighth and final spot, completes the regular season portion of its 2018 campaign at 25-25 overall and 14-14 in the GLVC. Wisconsin-Parkside concludes its 2018 season with a 21-27 overall mark and a 10-18 conference ledger.
Junior first baseman
Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central)'s RBI single in the top of the eighth inning broke up a tie as the Lady Miners scored three times in the frame to register a 5-2 game-one triumph.
Game two saw UW-Parkside do almost the same as the Rangers plated three fifth-inning runs to end a 1-1 deadlock and go on to split the regular-season ending twin bill with S&T.
Game 1 | Missouri S&T 5, Wisconsin-Parkside 2 (8 innings)
A run-scoring single by
Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) in the top of the eighth inning was the game-winning hit allowing S&T to snap a 2-2 tie as the Lady Miners scored three times in the extra frame to pick up a key win the opener.
Freshman catcher
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) followed by driving in a pair of S&T insurance runs with a two-out double to right center field giving sophomore pitcher
Avery English (Carterville, Ill./Carterville) (17-10) the victory. English scattered seven hits to go with seven strikeouts and one walk in throwing all eight innings.
UW-Parkside sent the game into extra innings knotted up at 2-2 as a result of tallying the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth on a walk and a run-scoring single by Danielle Crockett. However, S&T started off the eighth on a positive note as senior third baseman
Monica Weiss (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) singled to lead off and advanced to third base after a sacrifice bunt followed by an infield groundout.
Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) drove UWP starter Allison Hausl's first pitch up the middle to score Weiss. Following a walk to junior outfielder
Carley Hamann (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way North),
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) doubled to right center field to score freshman pinch-runner
Marcy McCalla (Staunton, Ill./Staunton) and Hamann as the Lady Miners stretched their lead to 5-2.
A Kellie Fenza double and a S&T fielding error had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning, but the Lady Miners erased their deficit in the top of the second as junior second baseman
Hannah Franceschini (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central)'s RBI groundout scored S&T's first run of the contest.
Carley Hamann (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way North) reached base to begin the inning after being hit by a pitch. She then proceeded to steal second base before advancing to third on a wild pitch and then came home on Franceschini's infield groundout to second base.
In the bottom of the eighth, UW-Parkside developed a potential scoring threat with a pair of singles from Jessica Shields and Danielle Crockett between two outs, but S&T's
Avery English (Carterville, Ill./Carterville) struck out Jessica Miklos for the game's final out.
Monica Weiss (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) led S&T with a three-for-four hitting performance and sophomore shortstop
Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley) went two-of-three at the plate as the Lady Miners recorded seven hits off UWP starter Allison Hausl (7-16), who compiled seven strikeouts and walked two in a complete-game performance.
Game 2 | Wisconsin-Parkside 4, Missouri S&T 1
A three-run fifth inning broke open a 1-1 deadlock as UW-Parkside won the regular-season finale.
S&T, which matched UWP in hits with nine total, committed four errors in the nightcap although none of which occurred in the fifth inning.
UW-Parkside regained its lead in the fifth with a Danielle Crockett single and a run-scoring double off reliever
Avery English (Carterville, Ill./Carterville), who came in for senior starter
Kati Viets (Sweet Springs, Mo./Sweet Springs). Adrien Hall delivered the RBI double and would eventually score later in the inning as would Crockett on a Madison Manders' two-base hit.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an Allison Hausl home run. The home team held their one-run advantage until the top of the fourth inning when S&T tallied its lone run of the game as a ball hit by
Hannah Franceschini (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) was misplayed for an error which allowed
Marcy McCalla (Staunton, Ill./Staunton) to score. McCalla entered the game pinch running for
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie), who had doubled with two outs.
Kati Viets (Sweet Springs, Mo./Sweet Springs) went the first four innings for S&T and she allowed five hits and struck out two UWP batters before yielding to English, who pitched the final two frames. English (17-12) yielded four hits, three runs, and fanned two. Kate Czoschke (1-2) posted the win for the Rangers as she threw the initial six innings and totaled four strikeouts while giving up eight hits. Alyssa Hrncar picked up a save with a one-inning of hitless relief.
The top hitters for S&T were
Monica Weiss (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) and
Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley), who each garnered two hits as seven different Lady Miners placed their names into the hits column.
Up Next
S&T will be participating in the
2018 GLVC Softball Championship, which will be held next weekend, May 3-5, at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill. The Lady Miners will be the eighth seed in the double-elimination tournament and will face 2018 GLVC regular-season champion Illinois-Springfield (UIS) Thursday, May 3, at 10 a.m. (CT) to begin the conference post-season tourney.
