ROLLA, MO- The Miner softball team kicked off GLVC play today along in their home opener with a doubleheader split with the Panthers of Drury University. S&T took the first game 1-0 while DU came back and won the second game 8-2.

GAME ONE: MISSOURI S&T-1, DRURY-0
After a comeback win over the Jennies of Central Missouri on Friday, the Miners carried their win into today's game.

The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the 1^st when Olivia Young (Millstadt, IL/Belleville Township) singled to centerfield that would bring Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley) home from second base and give the Miners the 1-0 lead. The only other hit for the Miners came from Carley Hamann (Frankfort, IL/Lincoln Way North) in the bottom of the 2^nd inning.

That lead would be all they needed for the win as Avery English (Carterville, IL/Carterville) threw a near perfect game with seven strikeouts and allowing just four hits in the 7.0 innings. She moved to 3-1 for the season and looks at a 1.31 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched.

GAME TWO: MISSOURI S&T-2, DRURY-8
Game two was a different story for the Miners; while S&T picked up five hits, the Panthers opened up with a 6-run second inning that gave them a commanding lead.

With that lead, Drury added two more runs in the top of the 6^th when Kinzy Smith hit a 2-run homerun over the centerfield fence to extend their lead to 8-0.

S&T wasn't going away easily; in the bottom half of the 6^th inning, Gretchen Egly (Joliet, IL/Plainfield Central) hit took a 1-0 count and turned it into a 2-run homer over the left-center fence to give her her first homerun of the season and cut the Miners deficit to 8-2. Unfortunately, those two runs would be the only runs S&T would get as they dropped game two 8-2.

Olivia Walter (Catawissa, MO/Cor Jesu Academy) (2-6) got the start in game two going 3.1 innings with one strikeout and just three hits while Kate Baxter (New Bloomfield, MO/New Bloomfield) went 3.2 innings with four hits.