EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri S&T's softball team was unable to hold off a late inning rally by Ferris State in its first game of the day at the Blue Bridge Battle, then dropped its second contest as well to Tiffin during the first of three days at the event at the Deaconess Sports Complex.
The Miners fell 8-7 to Ferris State – after the Bulldogs scored five times in the bottom of the sixth – then fell 9-0 in five innings to Tiffin. S&T, now 4-10 on the year, will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when it faces Cedarville at noon and Findlay at 2 p.m.
Game 1: Ferris State 8, Missouri S&T 7
The Miners got out of the gate quickly against the Bulldogs (3-6) by scoring four times in the top half of the first. The inning began with back-to-back hits by
Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) and
Isabella Welton (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West), then
Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) reached on an error that allowed Grobe to score.
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) followed with a double to score Welton, then after a two-out walk to
Allie Kelly (Park Hills, MO/Central),
Mackenzie Shields (Kansas City, MO/Platte County) drove in the final two runs of the inning with a single.
Ferris State scored in the second, but the Miners got that run back in the fifth when Neal singled with one out, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a hit by
Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) to go up 5-1.
The Bulldogs would cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the inning on Alexis Kozlowski's two-run homer, but the Miners scored twice in the sixth to restore its four-run advantage.
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) singled with one out, then after an error and a hit batter, Wooldridge doubled into center to score Viox and Grobe.
But in the bottom of the sixth, Catherine O'Donohue led off the inning with a solo home run and after two walks and a strikeout, Brooklyn Verbeek doubled in both runners to cut the lead to 7-6.
Mayce Barber (Excelsior Springs, Mo./Excelsior Springs), who entered the game in the sixth after the two walks, retired Abby Meyer for the second out, but then issued a walk ahead of a two-run double by Kozlowski to give the Bulldogs the lead.
The Miners did load the bases with one out in the seventh, but had the potential tying run forced out at the plate before a strikeout ended the game.
The Miners outhit Ferris State 12-8 with Wooldridge getting three hits; Welton, Shields and Viox each had two. Barber was charged with the loss.
Game 2: Tiffin 9, Missouri S&T 0
After a scoreless opening inning, Tiffin scored three times in the second which was capped by Tara Gall's two-run homer. It was the first of two homers hit by the Dragons (5-2) in the contest, as the other came off the bat of Maddie Woods in the fifth inning.
Following its three-run second, Tiffin scored single runs in the third and fourth and then put up four in the fifth.
The Miners were held to five hits in the game from five different players and one in each of the five innings. S&T had a runner in scoring position in the second after Viox stole second after reaching on a fielder's choice, then again in the third after a hit by Wooldridge sent Neal to third. The Miners also had a runner reach second in the fifth after
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) led off with a single and got to second on a ground out.
