QUINCY, Ill. – Missouri S&T's softball team wound up on the short end of the score in both games of its first Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader of the season Saturday, as the Miners dropped decisions of 3-2 and 10-8 at Quincy.
S&T (9-17, 0-2 GLVC) had leads in both games, but the Hawks (12-12, 2-0 GLVC) won the opener with a walk-off hit and then used a six-run third inning to overcome an early Miner scoring flurry to take the nightcap.
Missouri S&T returns to the diamond Sunday with a GLVC twinbill at Illinois Springfield beginning at noon.
Game 1: Quincy 3, Miners 2
After Quincy took the lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Avery Funk, the Miners scored twice in the fourth to grab the advantage.
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then
Isabella Welton (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) reached on an error that sent Viox over to third. Viox scored on a fielder's choice and then with two outs,
Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) doubled down the line in right to bring in the go-ahead run.
From there, however, the Miners missed opportunities to add to the lead or take it after Quincy had evened the score in the fifth. S&T left two runners on base in the fifth, another in scoring position in the sixth and two more in the seventh after the first two batters reached base.
Quincy won the game in the bottom of the seventh as Allison Kaiser bunted her way on, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Kenzie Moss' double.
The Hawks outhit S&T 8-5 with Grobe getting two of those hits.
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) suffered the loss in the circle for the Miners.
Game 2: Quincy 10, Miners 8
S&T spotted Quincy three runs in the opening inning, but responded with a four-run second to take the lead. The Miners got back-to-back hits from Grobe and
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) to open the frame, then after the first out was recorded,
Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) doubled to the opposite field to bring home both runners.
With two outs, Viox doubled in Anderson to tie the score, then Welton reached on an error that allowed Viox to cross the plate with the go-ahead run.
S&T tacked on a run in the third when Anderson reached on an error to allow Grobe to score, but things unraveled for the Miners in the bottom half of the inning as the Hawks brought 11 batters to the plate and scored six times to take the lead. Quincy's first six batters in the inning reached base and the Hawks took the lead on Lindsey Fischer's two-run triple.
Quincy added another run in the fourth and held that advantage until the Miners staged a rally in the top of the seventh. Welton doubled with one out, which was followed by a double by
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury). With two outs, Grobe doubled in a run, then Jobson reached on an error that allowed Grobe and
Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) to score to cut the lead to 10-8.
The Hawks outhit S&T 11-10 in the nightcap, as Wooldridge, Grobe and Anderson all had two hits apiece. Wooldridge took the loss in the circle for S&T.
