EMPORIA, Kansas – The No. 10-ranked Lady Mulerider softball team swept day one of the 6-State Classic in Emporia with a run-rule victory in five innings over Pittsburg State in game one, 11-3, and a 6-3 final decision in game two against Missouri Southern State on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED- GAME ONE
The Lady Muleriders wasted little time before plating its first run of the contest with senior
Brooke Goad's 2-run blast out to left field in the top of the first inning that pulled SAU ahead, 2-0.
SAU added an insurance run in both the second and third innings to extend its lead to 4-0, courtesy of an RBI-single off the bat of freshman
Sarah Pitre in the second and a solo bomb in the third by senior
Monica Islava, and, in the bottom of the third, Pittsburg State connected with a 2-run homer to cut its deficit in half, 4-2.
Pitre tacked on SAU's fifth run in the following inning to make it 5-2 before the Lady Mulerider offense exploded in the fifth and scored six runs on five hits to put the run-rule in effect.
In that frame, senior
Marina Duran led-off with a solo blast, and the Lady Muleriders loaded the bases after that where they would draw a pair of walks that plated two additional runs to extend the lead to 8-2.
Senior
Jill Roye stroked a 2-RBI single through the left side after that which put the run-rule in effect at a 10-2 decision and, later that inning, a 2-out RBI single from sophomore
Faith Otts added some insurance for SAU, 11-2, as the Gorillas tallied a run in the bottom of that frame, but that would not be enough to overcome the run-rule as the Lady Muleriders secured the victory in the fifth at an 11-3 final decision.
HOW IT HAPPENED- GAME TWO
MSSU broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning after an issued bases-loaded hit-by-pitch that made it 1-0, but that would be all the damage from the Lions in that frame as the Lady Muleriders retaliated in the bottom-half of that inning and scored five runs on four hits to gain the lead, 5-1.
In that frame, Goad connected with her second homerun of the day that knotted the score at 1-all. Later in the frame, Islava reached on a fielder's choice, Duran had a base-knock down the right field line, and Otts was issued a walk to load the bases for SAU.
Shortly after, freshman
Maeson Grace banged a 2-RBI double to center field that gave SAU the go-ahead runs, 3-1, and sophomore
Rachel Miller plated a pair of runs after that on a single up the middle to extend the Lady Mulerider lead out to 5-1.
The Lady Muleriders added a run in the fifth, 6-1, and the Lions answered in the seventh with a pair of runs that cut their deficit in half, but that would not be enough for MSSU as the 6-3 final decision fell in SAU's favor.
UP NEXT
The Lady Muleriders look to sweep the weekend at the 6-State Classic in Emporia, Kansas with a split doubleheader tomorrow scheduled for an 11 a.m. first-pitch in game one against Concordia University, St. Paul.
