ROMEOVILLE, Ill. –
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) threw a one-hit shutout in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader at Lewis, giving the Miners a split of their Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader with the Flyers and enhancing their chances of earning a spot in the conference tournament.
After the Flyers won the opener 5-4 on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh by Jayln Powell, Wooldridge shut the door on Lewis in game two to give the Miners a win in their first GLVC road contest of the season as they improved to 20-24 overall and 11-9 in the GLVC.
The Miners will play their final six conference games at home, but before facing Maryville next Sunday, S&T will take on Lincoln in a non-conference doubleheader Friday at noon at the S&T Softball Field.
Game 1: Lewis 5, Miners 4
A back-and-forth affair in game one ended up in the Flyers' favor after Powell's walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh after S&T had tied the score with two outs in the top half of the inning.
The Miners took the initial lead in the game when
Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) hit the third pitch of the game for a home run, but Lewis (29-10, 14-4 GLVC) evened matters in the second on an RBI double by Grace Kmak and then moved in front a short time later on a run-scoring double by Delaney Garden.
S&T regained the lead in the fourth when
Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) singled and
Mackenzie Shields (Kansas City, MO/Platte County) doubled after the first batter was retired, followed by an opposite field single by
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) that brought home both runners. However, the Flyers answered back in the bottom of the frame on RBI hits by Gabi Nilles and Garden to put them back in front.
In the seventh, Garden retired the first two hitters, but Grobe doubled to the opposite field and
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) followed with a hit up the middle; a subsequent error on the play allowed Grobe to come home with the tying run. The Miners did get another runner on base in the seventh but couldn't chase that runner home.
Rowland got the first out in the seventh, but Powell hit a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left to win the game for the Flyers.
S&T outhit Lewis 10-9 in the opener behind three hits from Grobe and two by Rowland. In the circle, Rowland fanned six in 6 2/3 innings of work.
Game 2: Miners 1, Lewis 0
After three scoreless innings, the Miners broke on top in the fourth.
Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) opened the inning with a hit and after pinch-runner
Peyton Dillon (Yorkville, Ill./Rosary) was bunted over to second,
Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) singled to move Dillon to third. With two outs, Shields singled to right to bring home the first run of the contest.
From there, Wooldridge took care of matters as after allowing a hit to Powell to begin the bottom of the fourth, she retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced – including the final eight – to complete her one-hitter.
The Miners tried to get an additional run across in the seventh on a bunt, but had a runner thrown out at the plate to keep it as a one-run game.
In her 111-pitch outing, Wooldridge struck out five and walked three. She was backed by six hits, two apiece coming off the bats of Neal and Anderson.
