ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's softball team put an end to a four-game losing streak Tuesday afternoon and completed a season sweep of Lincoln by taking both games from the Blue Tigers at the S&T Softball Field. The Miners rode
Bryn Wooldridge's (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) pitching performance to a 5-0 shutout win in game one, then jumped on the Blue Tigers early in the nightcap to win 8-3 to improve to 18-14 on the season.
Game 1: Miners 5, Lincoln 0
Wooldridge set the Blue Tigers (11-16) down in order in the first with a pair of strikeouts along the way, which just became a preview of what was to come. She finished the game with a career-high 13 strikeouts as only three runners reached base on her – a hit by Alivia Rymer in the second that turned out to be Lincoln's only hit of the game, a hit batter and one that reached on an error.
The 13 strikeouts recorded by Wooldridge marked the first time since April 21, 2013 that a Miner pitcher had fanned at least 10 hitters in a game and was the most by an S&T hurler since Ashley Wallingford struck out 16 Indianapolis hitters on May 8, 2010.
She got the only run she needed in the opening inning when
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) doubled with two outs and came home on a hit down the left field line by
Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy).
The Miners got all of their remaining runs in the third as with one out,
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) tripled into the right field corner and scored on a hit by Davis, then Flowers blasted a two-run homer to left to make it 4-0 and knock out starter Aidan Dayberry in the process. S&T scored once more before the inning ended when
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) singled over the head of the shortstop to bring in
Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum).
S&T had 12 hits in the opener with Davis, Flowers,
Chloe Saltijeral (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) and
Taylor Caton (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) all getting two apiece.
Game 2: Miners 8, Lincoln 3
As was the case in game one, the Miners wasted little time in grabbing the advantage in the nightcap.
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) led off the bottom of the first with a double down the line in left that left fielder Chloe Olson couldn't make the catch on, then a wild pitch and a ground ball off the bat of Antzoulatos scored the run.
S&T broke loose in the second with another four-run inning, which began when Vaughn was hit by a pitch with one out. Saltijeral reached on a fielder's choice and Vaughn was safe at the second when the throw pulled the second baseman off the bag, then Jobson ripped a single off the leg of third baseman Jordan Hollon to load the bases. With two outs, Viox doubled to the opposite field to score Saltijeral and Jobson, then Antzoulatos singled to right to bring home Caton and Viox.
Flowers led off the third by hitting her second home run of the afternoon to extend the lead to 6-0, but Lincoln cut that lead in half in the fourth when pinch-hitter Alex Miller hit a three-run homer.
The Miners added two more runs in the fifth on a single by Wooldridge, a double by Vaughn, a ground ball up the first base line by Saltijeral that allowed Wooldridge to score and a wild pitch that brought in Vaughn.
S&T outhit Lincoln 9-3 in game two, as Viox and Antzoulatos each had two hits and combined to drive in five. Starting pitcher
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) picked up her seventh win of the season as she struck out four and allowed three hits over the first four innings, then
Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney) got a three-inning save with three hitless innings with three strikeouts.
With Tuesday's wins, the Miners won all four games from the Blue Tigers this season as they had also swept Lincoln in a doubleheader on March 9 in Columbia.
Missouri S&T returns to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday when it takes on Lindenwood in a noon doubleheader in St. Charles, Mo.
