BRANSON, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis softball split its two games on Thursday at the DII Battle at the Branson Recplex in Branson, Mo. The Tritons fell to Pittsburg State 10-3 in their first game of the day but bounced back to defeat Missouri Western 12-4 in six innings in the nightcap.
Game 2 – UMSL 12, MWSU 4 6 innings
The Griffons (10-2) took the early lead on Sydney Young's two-out RBI double to right center scoring Myah Dwyer all the way from first base.
UMSL (4-3) sent 11 batters to the plate in the second inning scoring seven runs on six hits and took advantage of two errors by Missouri Western.
May Pasqualini put the Tritons ahead 4-1 with an opposite field grand slam for her first collegiate home run with two out in the frame.
Kiley Sullivan had an RBI single that scored
Keira Hayton,
Riley Buchanan tripled to right center to score Sullivan and
Jamie Widule capped the scoring with an RBI single up the middle.
The Griffons scored three runs in the fifth to cut UMSL's lead in half and had the tying run at the plate but
Kenzie Stoltz struck out Rachel Cain to end the threat.
The Tritons answered with five runs on four hits and another MWSU error in the sixth to put it away. With two out, Widule singled deep in the hole between first and second as Sullivan scored from second on the play.
Simia Spahiev followed with a two-run double to right center and
Gracie Philpot hit a two-run home run to right for her first UMSL home run.
The Tritons had 11 hits in the nightcap and were led by Pasqualini, Sullivan and Widule with two apiece. Stoltz picked up her first collegiate victory giving up four runs on five hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts in five innings pitched to even her record at 1-1.
Game 1 – Pittsburg State 10, UMSL 3
The Gorillas (11-0) scored in each of the first six innings as they banged out 14 hits in the opener. PSU led 5-0 after two and a half innings but UMSL got two of those runs back in the third on an RBI single from Pasqualini and an RBI groundout from Widule.
The Gorillas kept the pressure on with two more in the fourth and fifth innings and a single tally in the sixth. The Tritons avoided the run rule loss as Hayton hit a ground-rule double down the right field line scoring
Klara Bulla.
The Tritons were held to six hits in game one with Pasqualini, Sullivan and Hayton recording two each.
Ashely Borowitz gave up five runs on seven hits with four walks in three innings pitched to fall to 2-1 on the season.
UMSL plays its final two games in Branson on Friday morning beginning with Northwest Missouri State at 9:30 a.m. The Tritons will take on Nebraska-Kearney at 11:30 a.m. in its final contest of the weekend.
