ST. JOSEPH – It was a close loss and a dominant victory for the Missouri Western softball team (28-14, 8-8) Wednesday night against Central Missouri (20-23, 10-8).

Six runs over the final two innings of game one gave Central Missouri a 6-4 comeback win. A three-run fifth inning highlighted a 5-0 win for the Griffons in game two.

NOTABLES
– It was the fourth doubleheader split in the Griffons’ last seven MIAA series

– Missouri Western had a 2-0 lead after four innings of game one on solo home runs in the third and fourth innings, but Central Missouri scored four in the top of the sixth. The Griffons tied it in the bottom of the sixth, but surrendered two more runs in the seventh.

– The Griffons had 19 hits on the night, five extra base hits

– Two costly errors hurt the Griffons in game one, including two-out error in the top of the seventh that allowed the sixth run to score

– Missouri Western’s two pitchers combined for a 0.50 ERA on the night

– The Griffons got most of their production from the bottom half of the order as the 5-9 hitters combined to go 15-for-29

TOP PERFORMERS
– Rebekah Mueller went 4-for-5 at the plate with a home run and three RBIs

– Three of Shelby Uhl’s four hits on the night were extra base hits, two doubles and a home run. She also scored four runs and had two RBIs

– Kenzie Hilzer (14-5) held UCM to three hits in her third complete game shutout of the season. She also struck out four and limited the Jennies to a .136 average

– Paige Shifflett went 3-for-7 at the plate with three RBIs

UP NEXT
Missouri Western goes back on the road for series at Fort Hays State (11-35, 4-16) on Friday and Nebraska-Kearney (7-41, 4-18) on Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —