COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's softball team moved back to the .500 mark on the season Wednesday afternoon as it swept a doubleheader from Lincoln, taking decisions of 6-3 and 4-2 at Battle High School. The Miners used a three-run inning in both contests to take the lead for good, then held off the Blue Tigers to improve their record to 8-8 heading into the start of Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Sunday.
Game 1: Miners 6, Lincoln 3
Following a scoreless first inning, the Miners broke on top when they scored three times in the second.
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) led off the inning with a double to the fence in right, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on
Emma Vaughn's (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum) sacrifice fly. Later in the inning,
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) singled up the middle with two outs to bring home
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) and
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) to extend the S&T advantage.
The Miners added to their lead in the third when
Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) was hit by a pitch, moved around to third on a wild pitch and an infield single by Antzoulatos and scored on Wooldridge's sacrifice fly.
Lincoln loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth and Wooldridge nearly pitched out of the jam without a run scoring, but walked Chloe Olson on a 3-2 pitch to force in a run and walked Jordan Hollon to force in a second run before getting Ashton Stalling on a comebacker to end the inning.
The Miners got those runs back in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring in the sixth when Vaughn crossed the plate on a fielder's choice off the bat of
Chloe Saltijeral (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) when the catcher dropped the throw to the plate S&T's run in the seventh came when
Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township) scored on a ground ball by Antzoulatos.
Antzoulatos had two of S&T's seven hits as the Miners outhit the Blue Tigers 7-4. The game one win snapped the Miners' six-game losing streak and halted Lincoln's winning streak at 11.
Game 2: Miners 4, Lincoln 2
The teams traded solo homers in the early innings, as Lincoln's Leslie Callahan hit a one-out homer off S&T starter
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) before
Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy) belted a two-out shot off Aidan Dayberry to tie up the contest in the second.
S&T's three-run inning in the nightcap came in the third as it used a trio of run-scoring doubles to take the lead. With one,
Ciarrah Bell (Marceline, Mo./Marceline) slapped a single into left center, stole second and came around to score on a double into the gap by Viox. Moments later, Viox came in to score when Antzoulatos doubled to the fence in right center to extend the lead to 3-1 and with two outs, Davis recorded the third double of the inning to score Antzoulatos.
Rowland took care of matters from there, only allowing a second home run to Callahan to lead off the fourth and pitching out of trouble later in that inning and again in the seventh. The Blue Tigers got two runners on base in the fourth with two outs, but a strikeout put an end to that threat.
Lincoln's first two hitters reached in the seventh before Rowland fanned the next two hitters and closing out the game by getting Stalling to hit into a fielder's choice.
The Miners outhit Lincoln 11-6 in the second game, as Davis recorded three hits that included two doubles and Bell getting two hits as well. Rowland struck out seven and walked just one in her complete game outing.
Missouri S&T opens its Great Lakes Valley Conference slate Sunday when it hosts Truman State at noon at the S&T Softball Field. The scheduled games at William Jewell that were originally scheduled for Friday has been moved to a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Monday in Kansas City.
