ROLLA, Mo. – It was a day of mistakes and missed opportunities for Missouri S&T's softball team as the Miners dropped both ends of their Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader to Missouri-St. Louis Friday afternoon, as the Tritons posted wins of 8-1 and 6-0 at the S&T Softball Field.
The Miners (16-20, 8-8 GLVC) were guilty of eight errors defensively and also stranded 19 runners in the two contests despite having runners on base in 11 of the 14 innings of play.
Game 1 – Missouri-St. Louis 8, Miners 1
The missed chances for S&T came early on, as it had two runners on base in each of the first two innings but couldn't get a run across. Then in the third, the Tritons took advantage of a couple of Miner mistakes to take the lead.
After an infieid single by Maddy Snemis opened the UMSL third, Courtney Settles reached when she bunted and nobody was covering first on the first. McKenzie Lamos followed with a bunt of her own and reached herself when the ball was bobbled to load the bases, then Irene Travis looped a single into right on an 0-2 pitch to put the Tritons (25-15, 11-5 GLVC) on top. UMSL got another run on a fielder's choice later in the third.
The Tritons added to their lead in the fifth when S&T committed two errors with two outs, which preceded a run-scoring single by Annie Scaramuzzi.
Meanwhile, the Miners continued to get runners into scoring position as they had a runner at second base in every inning, but couldn't get the key hit in the first six innings to bring any of those runners home.
In the seventh, the Tritons put the game away with a five-run outburst, with two of the runs scoring on hit batters with the bases loaded and two more coming home on a double by winning pitcher Mimi Bradley. S&T broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh when
Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township) singled to open the inning and later scored on a hit by
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy).
The Tritons outhit S&T 11-8 in the first game; Passolano and
Rachel Smith (Monroe City, Mo./Monroe City R-1) had two hits apiece for the Miners.
Game 2 – Missouri-St. Louis 6, Miners 0
The Miners had the first good scoring chance in the nightcap as they loaded the bases in the second when Antzoulatos singled,
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) was hit by a pitch and
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) drew a walk after the first batter was retired. However, Scaramuzzi got the Tritons out of the jam without allowing a run before UMSL put six unearned runs on the board in the fourth.
The inning started when Travis reached on an error, then with one out, Jamie Widule was awarded first on a hit by pitch and Scaramuzzi followed with a run-scoring single to put the Tritons on top. Another error allowed the second run to score, then UMSL pushed four more runners across before the inning concluded.
That would be all the scoring in game two, as the Miner offense was shut down by the UMSL lefty after the fourth. S&T got two runners on base in that inning but came away scoreless, then had just one baserunner over the final three innings as they were held to just two hits.
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) took the loss in the circle as she scattered eight hits and struck out four. S&T's two hits in the nightcap came from Antzoulatos and Jobson, who singled in the fourth.
Missouri S&T will return to action Tuesday when it hosts defending national champion Rogers State in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at the S&T Softball Field.
