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Box Score 2 Joplin, Mo. –The Maryville softball team earned a split at the TMZ Tournament on Saturday in Joplin, Mo. by falling to Northwest Missouri State University, 8-7 and then bouncing back to defeat the University of Nebraska-Kearney, 11-1 in five innings.
The Bearcats opened the first contest by putting a pair of runs across in the top of the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead. Maryville answered in the home half of the first as
Courtney Ferguson doubled to center field and then scored on an
Ashley Marks single to cut the Bearcat lead to 2-1. Marks moved over to third on a groundout and scored as Sheridan Sprague single to right field to tie the game at 2-2.
Northwest Missouri State broke the game open by scoring two runs in the third inning, three runs in the fifth, and a single run in the sixth to take an 8-2 advantage. Maryville rallied in the home half of the sixth as Marks singled with bases loaded to start the uprising. With bases still full of Saints,
Sydney Halleen drew the second walk of the inning to score another run and cut the Bearcat lead to 8-4.
Sheridon Sprague kept the merry-go-round moving with an RBI single to pull the Saints to within three runs at 8-5. Marks then scored on a wild pitch and
Nikki Taylor laced a single to right field to put the score at 8-7. The Bearcats got out of the inning as they got a groundout and a strike out to end the Saints Rally.
Taylor fell to 3-4 on the year by going four innings and giving up five runs on six hits while Marks paced the Maryville offense by going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI's and two runs scored. Sprague added to the Saints 14 hits by going a perfect 4-for-4 and driving in two runs while Ferguson added a pair of hits and also scored twice in the loss.
Maryville jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second game of the day against UNK by scoring three runs in the first and then plating six runs in the second inning. After the three run first,
Kelsey Martin singled to center field and moved to second on a Ferguson single. Martin then moved to third on a error and scored on a Marks single to give the Saints a 4-1 advantage. After a walk to Halleen and Sprague fielder's choice loaded the bases, Marks came across on a Lopers error and Halleen scored on a Taylor single to give Maryville a 6-1 lead. The Saints re-loaded the bases with a
Samantha Hausl walk and then scored another run on a stolen base while back to back singles scored two more runs to give Maryville a 9-1 lead. The Saints scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning and shut down UNK to earn the win in five innings to improve to 7-7 on the year.
Alyssa Callans earned her third win of the year by scattering three hits and striking out three Lopers on the afternoon. Marks again paced the Saints at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI's and scoring two runs while Taylor was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored and Ferguson added two hits and scored another Saints run.
Maryville returns to the diamond tomorrow in Joplin as the Saints take on Missouri Southern at 10 a.m. and then they complete their trip with a make-up against Northeastern State at noon.
