Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Missouri S&T's softball team pushed a run across in the seventh inning of the nightcap on Monday, giving it a split of two one-run games against Northeastern State.  The RiverHawks took the opener 2-1 before S&T improved to 4-8 with a 3-2 victory in the second game.

The Miners scored their game-winning run in game two thanks to an error, then held off Northeastern State in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.

Game 1: Northeastern State 2, Miners 1

After the teams battled through four scoreless innings, the RiverHawks (4-9) broke the deadlocked contest in the fifth on a run-scoring double off the bat of Maddie Messenger that scored Drew Hawkins.  NSU added an insurance run an inning later on a two-out RBI double by Emily Sampson that brought home Allison Zanca.

The Miners cut the lead in half in the seventh when Mackenzie Shields (Kansas City, MO/Platte County) led off the inning with a home run, then S&T got the tying run on base when Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) singled with two outs. However, River Hawk pitcher Madison Heinle got a strikeout to end it.

S&T outhit Northeastern State 7-5 in the opener, with Shields and Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) getting two hits apiece.  Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) suffered the loss in circle as she fanned three in six innings.

Game 2: Miners 3, Northeastern State 2

The Miners were able to pounce on a pair of River Hawks mistakes in the contest, including one in the seventh inning that led to the winning run to give S&T the split of the twinbill.

Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) led off the Miner seventh with an opposite field double, then Isabella Welton (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) walked with one out.  Shields followed with a ground ball to the right side, but a throwing error on the play allowed pinch runner Natalie Cuedras to score the go-ahead run.  Rowland issued a pair of walks after retiring the leadoff hitter, but the Miners got a force out on a ball hit to center by Baylea Smith before Zanca hit into a fielder's choice to end the game.

The Miners got on the scoreboard in the opening inning by taking advantage of an error in the frame.  Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) led off with a hit and moved to second when Neal drew a walk, then Grobe stole third to put the runners at the corners.  Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) followed by hitting a ground ball to short, but the throw to second was wild and allowed Grobe to score.

Neal ended up at third on the play and crossed the plate on a ground ball by Wooldridge to give S&T a 2-0 lead.

Northeastern State answered back with a run in the bottom of the inning as it loaded the bases with one out on three walks, but scored only once on a fly ball by Sampson.  After stranding two runners in the second, the River Hawks were set down in order by S&T's Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) in the next two innings and she also pitched around a leadoff walk in the fifth.

The RiverHawks tied the game in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Sampson and Hawkins, but Rowland shut down any additional scoring threats to send the game to the seventh tied at two.

Northeastern State had four hits to the Miners' three – two of which came from Grobe and other being Anderson's double in the seventh.  Rowland recorded five strikeouts to pick up her first win in the circle on the season.

The Miners' next action will be at the Blue Bridge Classic in Owensboro, Ky., where S&T will play six times in a three-day span beginning on Friday.  S&T will face Ferris State and Tiffin in its first two games in the event on Friday beginning at 10 a.m.