ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After dropping an extra inning decision in its season opener Friday, Missouri S&T's softball bounced back in its second game of the day to gain a split at the Hawkins-McGhee Memorial Invitational.
The Miners fell in the opening game of the day 2-1 in eight innings to Henderson State, but rebounded with a 7-5 win over Ouachita Baptist to get their first win of the season. Missouri S&T will have two more games on Saturday, facing Arkansas-Monticello at noon and Southwestern Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. to wrap up its opening weekend.
Henderson State 2, Miners 1 (8 innings)
The Miners were shut down offensively for the first five innings by Henderson State's Brooke Johnson, as they had only one hit and two baserunners during that span. But the player who did get that hit –
Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) – sparked S&T in the sixth with a two-out double and then came in to score moments later on a triple by
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury).
The Reddies scored a run off S&T starter
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) in the first on an RBI double by Miyah Jackson, but Rowland kept HSU off the scoreboard over the next six innings. She pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the second and a bases loaded, one-out situation in the fourth to keep it a one-run contest.
After the Miners failed to score in the top of the eighth, the Reddies – who had a runner placed at second to begin the inning – won the game when Jodi DeHart singled with two outs to bring home the run.
The Miners had four hits in the contest, including two from Grobe; Wooldridge and
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) had the other S&T hits. Rowland scattered eight hits and struck out five in the circle for the Miners.
Miners 7, Ouachita Baptist 5
S&T got the lead in the contest twice in the first three innings thanks to the long ball, then put four runs on the board in the sixth to build a cushion that it needed as the Tigers drew to within two in the seventh inning.
Alyssa Haile (St. Peters, MO/Francis Howell Central) led off the second inning with a home run to put the Miners on the board, only to see OBU even it up in the bottom half on an RBI single by Karley Burrow. However, S&T regained the lead in the third when
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) drew a one-out walk and Grobe followed with a two-run homer to center.
After Ouachita got a run back in the fourth, the Miners broke the game open in the sixth with their four-run outburst. The inning started when Haile reached on an infield hit, then ended up a third following a one-out single by Jobson. The duo then executed a successful double steal, which was followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of
Allie Kelly (Park Hills, MO/Central).
Following a pitching change by the Tigers,
Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) greeted reliever Maggi Huddleston with an opposite field single that allowed Kelly to cross the plate with the third run of the inning. Neal took second on the throw, then got to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Viox infield hit.
The Tigers got to within two when Lauren Lester belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) got a strikeout and fly ball to end the game.
Haile had three of the Miners' nine hits in the game and scored twice, while Grobe drove in two with her home run. The Miners outhit the Tigers 9-8, with Wooldridge striking out seven in her complete game performance.
