ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's softball season came to a close Sunday afternoon, but not before the Miners recorded one of their most significant wins of the year as they took the second game of their doubleheader to gain a split with sixth-ranked Indianapolis at the S&T Softball Field.
After the Greyhounds made a first inning run stand up in the opener – despite a no-hit bid by S&T pitcher
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) – the Miners got a pair of home runs and a 12-strikeout performance from
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) in game two to pick up a 4-1 win. S&T, who fell short of making the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, finished the season at 20-28 overall and 11-13 in GLVC play.
Game 1 – Indianapolis 1, Miners 0
The Greyhounds got the only run of the game with two outs in the first as with runners on first and second, Sydnee Perry hit a ball up the middle that S&T tried to get an inning-ending force out on, but the throw to second was late. The runner that was at second, Emily O'Connor, came all the way around to score to give the Greyhounds the lead.
UIndy – who came into the weekend as the top offensive team in the GLVC -- got its run in the first without the benefit of a hit and was held out of the hit column by Wooldridge until Shelby Cook singled past a diving
Rachel Smith (Monroe City, Mo./Monroe City R-1) at second with one out in the seventh. Prior to the hit, Wooldridge had retired 12 straight hitters and then after hitting batters later in the inning, got a line out to end the frame.
Unfortunately, S&T was unable to get much offense generated on its own behalf against UIndy All-America pitcher Kenzee Smith. The Miners had only two hits in the game, a first inning single by
Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) and a single in the second by
Rachel Smith (Monroe City, Mo./Monroe City R-1) when they had their best scoring chance.
Smith's single came after a leadoff walk to
Taylor Caton (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) and sent her to third, but the Miners stranded both runners and had only more baserunner in the game when Antzoulatos reached on an error in the sixth.
Wooldridge struck out eight and walked three in her outing, which was the second this month in which she carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Game 2 – Miners 4, Indianapolis 1
UIndy grabbed the initial lead in the nightcap in the second when Lexy Rees led off with a double and reached third on a subsequent error on the play; Rees scored moments later on a single by Perry.
Greyhound starter Kaitlyn Brown set down the first five Miner hitters, but like a bolt of lightning, the tide of the game turned when Smith – one of the six S&T seniors -- belted her first career home run over the fence in left center to tie the contest. Smith would also figure prominently in the next inning when the Miners took the lead.
The Miners got a leadoff hit from
Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township) to start the third, then after a fielder's choice off the bat of
Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum), Antzoulatos and Caton had back-to-back hits to load the bases. Smith followed with a third straight hit as her single up the middle brought in Vaughn. Antzoulatos would score moments later on a wild pitch by reliever Jayden Casebolt to give S&T a 3-1 lead.
Given the lead, Rowland took control of matters from there. She allowed a hit to Perry to start the fourth, but then retired the final 12 hitters she faced to pick up the win. Her 12 strikeouts were also a career-high, seven of which came during the final four innings.
She got an additional run to work with from a fellow member of the Miners' senior class in the fifth when Caton hit a solo home run in her final at-bat as a Miner. Caton had two hits as did Smith in the Miners' game two victory as they outhit UIndy 7-5.
The win in the nightcap was the first for the Miners over UIndy since late in the 2018 season and only their second in their last 21 matchups with the Greyhounds.
