JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Western softball team extended its win streak to three games on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Missouri S&T 4-2 and 5-0. The Griffons improve to 6-7 this season.
GAME 1
MWSU 4, Missouri S&T 2
Much like they did to the host school on Friday, the Griffons jumped out to an early lead then added some insurance in the later innings to pick up a win.
Missouri Western scored three in the second inning of game one and added one in the fifth before cutting a Miner rally short in the bottom of the seventh. Missouri S&T scored one in the first on an RBI groundout. The Griffs quickly answered in the top of the second. An error on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Kelly Uthe allowed Taylor Hoelscher to cross the plate and tie the game. Uthe and Chloe Armstrong scored on a dropped fly to left hit by Lauren Houston to make it 3-1 Griffs. Hoelscher made it 4-1 in the fifth with an RBI single that scored Rachel Stewart.
Uthe retired the first batter in the seventh. With two out, the Miners hit three-straight singles, pushing in two runs on the second one, aided by an error. On the third single, the Miners tried to sneak home from third but got caught in a rundown resulting in the final out of the game.
Hoelscher was 3 for 4 in the game with an RBI and a run scored. Stewart had a pair of hits and Houstong drove in a pair. Uthe (3-4) picked up a complete game win, allowing two runs, one earned, on nine hits, no walks and no strikeouts.
GAME 2
MWSU 5, Missouri S&T 0
Kaili Hinds (3-1) picked up her first shutout of the season, striking out seven with just one walk, one hit batter and six hits.
Markee Brown's RBI single in the second would have been enough with Hinds' performance in the circle, but the Griffons didn't take their feet off the pedal. Stewart and Hoelscher delivered RBI doubles in the third to put MWSU up 3-0. Melanie Rasmussen picked up an RBI on a ground out in the fourth and Sydni Hawkins singled in Emma Hoffart in the fifth.
The top six batters in the Griffon lineup each had one hit apiece. Brown went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored in the eight-hole.
UP NEXT
Missouri Western plays a doubleheader against Northern State (10-0) on Sunday in Joplin that is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
--- MWSU Athletics ---