ROLLA, Mo. – An eight-run sixth inning doomed Missouri S&T's softball team Wednesday afternoon as it dropped its 2023 home opener by a count of 12-6 to Augustana at the S&T Softball Field. The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was canceled due to impending darkness as the start of play was delayed due to weather and field conditions.
The Miners (8-10) had already overcome an early three-run deficit to tie the game in the fourth inning, but after allowing a run in the fifth, surrendered eight runs in the sixth as the Vikings (7-6) sent 14 batters to the plate in that frame to break the contest open.
Augustana jumped on top when leadoff hitter Andrea Cain homered on the second pitch of the game, then got another run across before the inning ended when Torri Chute singled in Gracey Brink. The Vikings made it 3-0 in the top half of the fourth when Delaney Young scored on a wild pitch before the Miners had an uprising in the bottom of the inning to draw even.
Alyssa Haile (St. Peters, MO/Francis Howell Central) opened the inning with a hit and came all the way around to score on a double into the right center gap by
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury).
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) followed with a ground ball to short, but the throw to third to try and cut down Wooldridge was wild and she was able to score as a result.
The throw to the plate to try and retire Wooldridge got away from the catcher, which allowed Antzoulatos to move all the way around to third before she scored on a successful squeeze bunt by
Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy).
The Vikings regained the lead in the fifth when Brink was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a hit by Abby Lien. S&T prevented any additional damage in the inning thanks to two great defensive plays, first when rightfielder
Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum) threw a runner out at the plate and then when third baseman
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) made a diving stop on a ball heading down the line and on her knees, threw Kennedy Buckman out at first to end the frame.
However, the Vikings busted the game open in the sixth, extending their lead to 5-3 on Brink's sacrifice fly and then getting back-to-back two-run doubles by Chute and Young during a stretch where seven straight Augustana hitters recorded hits.
S&T was able to extend the contest in the bottom half of the sixth when Flowers blasted a three-run homer, as she finished the afternoon with four runs batted in.
Augustana outhit the Miners 17-5; Haile had two of S&T's five hits. Wooldridge, who pitched into the sixth inning, took the loss in the circle.
Missouri S&T will be idle from action until March 18, when it opens its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule with a doubleheader against Truman State at the S&T Softball Field. Game time will be at noon.
