INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Missouri S&T's softball team entered play this weekend as winners of seven of its last eight games, but ran headlong into the nation's fifth-ranked team as Indianapolis handed the Miners a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference losses Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds used big first innings in both games to grab the lead and went on to wins of 6-0 and 9-1 at Baumgartner Field, dropping S&T to 19-23 overall and 10-8 in the GLVC.
The Miners wrap up their weekend road trip Sunday with a noon doubleheader against Lewis in Romeoville, Ill.
Game 1: UIndy 6, Miners 0
The Greyhounds (36-3, 15-1 GLVC) jumped on the Miners early in the opener, using a pair of run-scoring doubles in the first inning to take the lead. The uprising started with two outs, as Emily O'Connor and Lexi Rees drew walks in front of a double off the bat of Dominique Proctor that scored O'Connor.
The other two runners scored moments later on a double by Braxton Downs to hand a 3-0 over to Kenzee Smith, who held the Miners to four hits and struck out eight on her way to her 20
th win in the circle this season.
UIndy got a two-run homer from Downs in the fourth and she also scored the sixth Greyhound run in the sixth following a double by Shelby Cook.
Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) had two of S&T's four hits in the opener – the others came from
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) and
Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney) – as
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) took the decision in the circle for the Miners.
Game 2: UIndy 9, Miners 1
As was the case in game one, UIndy put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the opening inning as it plated four runs in the frame. A wild pitch allowed the first run to score, then Downs struck again with a two-run single that added to the lead. An RBI single by Cook brought home the fourth run of the inning.
The Greyhounds scored two additional runs in the fourth before the Miners got on the board in the fifth when
Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) belted a solo home run. However, UIndy ended the game in the bottom of the fifth when Tori Angles hit a three-run homer.
S&T was outhit 10-5 in the second game with five different Miners getting hits in the contest. Wooldridge started the contest and took the loss in the circle.
