ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Missouri S&T's bats were silenced Tuesday afternoon as the Miner softball team dropped both games of a non-conference doubleheader at Missouri Western, losing by scores of 7-2 and 2-0.
The Miners (22-28) were held to five hits in each of the two games and were also playing in a deficit for much of the day, as the Griffons (28-18) scored three runs in the opening inning of the first game and twice in the first in the nightcap.
Missouri S&T will return to action Saturday when it hosts Upper Iowa in a noon Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at the S&T Softball Field.
Game 1: Missouri Western 7, Miners 2
The Griffons used the long ball to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first, getting a leadoff home run from Kalee Higdon and a two-run homer later in the frame from Kennedy Preston. Higdon homered again in the second to extend the Western lead, then it added single runs in the third and fourth innings to go up 6-0.
S&T broke up the shutout in the sixth after loading the bases with one out on a hit by
Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville), a walk to
Lula Sassano (Decatur, IL/St. Teresa) and a hit by
Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk). The runs scored as the result of walks, as
Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) drew one to force in Viox and
Mackenzie Shields (Kansas City, MO/Platte County) drew the other to score Sassano.
Anderson had two of the Miners' five hits in game one, while
Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) took the loss in the circle for S&T.
Game 2: Missouri Western 2, Miners 0
The Miners got a solid pitching performance from
Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney) – who allowed only five hits while striking out five and giving up just three hit after the Griffons scored their two runs in the first inning. However, the Miners were shackled by Western's Natalie Kissinger as they got just five hits and had only one runner that reached second base in the contest.
Western got its two runs in the first when the first two hitters reached with a hit and an error ahead of Bubba Hoelscher's two-run double.
Wooldridge had two hits for the Miners.
