Box Score

ST. LOUIS, MO. – The No. 6 ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis softball team scored five runs in the sixth inning en route to a 7-4 victory over Bellarmine on Friday afternoon in the NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by the Tritons at the UMSL Softball Field.
 
The surge of runs gave top-seeded UMSL a 7-1 lead before the Tritons were forced to fend off a seventh-inning rally by the eighth-seeded Knights.
 
UMSL advances in the winner's bracket to meet No. 5 seed Ohio Dominican tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Panthers were 3-2 winners over No. 4 seed Truman State in today's first game. Bellarmine and Truman State will face off at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
 
The Tritons also improve to 46-6 overall with the win, with their last three victories coming against Bellarmine (37-17).
 
UMSL jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning as junior Katie Rutledge led off with a double and later scored on Alex Stupek's two-out RBI single. Junior Brianna Butler then delivered a two-out single in the third inning to drive in sophomore Katie Schultz for a 2-0 advantage.
 
Bellarmine got on the board in the sixth inning with a solo homerun, cutting the deficit to one, before UMSL countered in the bottom half of the frame with five runs, including three on a bases clearing double by junior Madison Zbaraschuk. The Tritons also scored on a wild pitch and a Knights error.
 
Bellarmine then led off the seventh by tagging sophomore ace Hannah Perryman for three consecutive hits, including a two-run homerun. Junior Brittni Chapman relieved Perryman, getting all three outs to garner the save.
 
Perryman picked up the win, improving to 26-5 overall, setting a new single season record for victories. She struck out 10, while allowing four runs on five hits.
 
UMSL tallied eight hits to the Knight's six. Rutledge, Stupek and Zbaraschuk all had two hits each.
 
TRITON TIDBITS: UMSL improves to 5-6 in NCAA Tournament games… the Tritons extended their win streak to eight games… UMSL is 18-3 at home… UMSL is 5-0 this year against Bellarmine… the Tritons are outscoring their opponents 44-9 in the first inning… junior Jena Boudreau had a 12-game hitting streak snapped, while junior Brianna Butler extended hers to seven games.