ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T opened its home and Great Lakes Valley Conference softball schedule Sunday by splitting a doubleheader with Truman State, using a five-run second inning to propel it to a 7-5 win in game one before being the victim of a pair of five-run frames in the nightcap as the Bulldogs took game two 12-3. With the split, the Miners went to 9-9 on the season and Truman to 6-11.
Game 1 – Miners 7, Truman State 5
S&T spotted Truman two runs in the first inning, but got one of them back in the bottom half of the frame and then broke out for five in the second to take the lead before holding on to win.
The Miners cut Truman's early lead in half when
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) singled with one out and scored on a hit by
Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy), then S&T sent 11 hitters to the plate in the second as they scored the five runs on just two hits. The uprising started when
Chloe Saltijeral (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) reached on an infield hit with one out, which was followed by a walk to
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) and a bunt single by
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) to load the bases.
Antzoulatos and
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) drew back-to-back walks from Truman starter Nicole Havel to force in runs, then another walk with two outs to
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) forced in the third run of the inning. A wild pitch allowed Antzoulatos to score, then after S&T loaded the bases again,
Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum) was hit by a pitch to bring home the fifth run.
The Miners added another tally in the third when Jobson walked to lead off the inning and later scored on an opposite field single by Davis.
Truman cut the lead to 7-5 when Cameryn Patterson belted a three-run homer in the fifth, but Wooldridge retired the last seven Bulldogs in order – which included four of her seven strikeouts -- to preserve the victory and improve to 5-3 in the circle.
S&T outhit the Bulldogs 7-5 in the contest, with Davis and Flowers getting two hits apiece.
Game 2 – Truman State 12, Miners 3
In the nightcap, it was the Bulldogs who produced the big innings as they had a pair of five-run innings that included grand slams in each of them.
Truman's first five-run outburst came in the second inning, as the Bulldogs' first run scored on a hit batter with the bases loaded before Callie Unrein hit a grand slam off S&T starter Charyle Rowland.
The Miners got two of the runs back in the third, the first coming when
Ciarrah Bell (Marceline, Mo./Marceline) reached on an infield hit, went to third on a bunt single by Viox and a subsequent throwing error and scored on a hit by
Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township). Later in the inning, Flowers doubled into the gap in right center to bring home Passolano.
However, Truman answered right back with its second five-run inning that was capped by Lauren Stade's grand slam.
S&T was able to keep the game going in the fifth when Flowers hit a sacrifice fly to score Passolano, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the sixth and ended the game due to the mercy rule after keeping S&T off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning.
Truman outhit the Miners 9-6 in game two; Viox had two of S&T's six hits while Flowers drove in two.
Missouri S&T will face William Jewell Monday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader in Kansas City, Mo.
