TOPEKA, Kan. – Missouri S&T's softball team opened its weekend in Kansas by dropping a pair of contests Friday to Fort Hays State, as the Tigers handed the Miners setbacks of 3-0 and 3-2 at Washburn University. The Miners dropped to 6-6 on the season as it will complete their weekend of action Saturday with a doubleheader against the host school.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 3, Miners 0
The Miners and Tigers were in a scoreless dual until the fifth, when Fort Hays State took the lead on a two-out double by Jessica Espinosa that scored Sarah Tiffany. The Tigers added two more runs in the sixth as starting pitcher Savanah Egger held S&T off the scoreboard on six hits and recorded nine strikeouts along the way.
S&T starter
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) set down the first nine hitters in order with six strikeouts along the way, then pitched out of a jam in the fourth after the Tigers got two runners on base with one out. She finished the game with nine strikeouts and allowed only five hits in her six innings of work.
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) had two of the Miners' six hits in game one. The Miners' best scoring chance came in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out, but Egger got a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 3, Miners 2
After being blanked in the first game, S&T got on the scoreboard in the opening inning of the nightcap when Viox reached on an error to open the game and came around to score on a ground out by
Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy). S&T maintained that one-run lead until the fourth, when it took advantage of another Tiger error to score again.
After a one-out single by Wooldridge,
Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum) reached base when the second baseman dropped the ball on the throw to first which also send pinch-runner
Madi O'Farrell (Olathe, Kan./Olathe Northwest) around to third. Moments later, O'Farrell crossed the plate on a ground out by
Chloe Saltijeral (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) to give S&T a 2-0 lead.
However, Fort Hays State answered right back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers got back-to-back doubles to start the inning, then a two-run single with two outs by Elise Capra put Fort Hays into the lead.
The Miners got runners on base in each of the last three innings, but lost one runner stealing and another on a double play.
Fort Hays State outhit S&T 6-5 in the game; Wooldridge had two hits for the Miners. Rowland struck out eight in her six innings in the circle.
Missouri S&T will face Washburn in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.
