WARRENSBURG, Mo. – For the fourth time this season, the Missouri Western softball team couldn’t best Central Missouri, falling 7-2 after allowing six Jennie runs in the sixth inning. This one was bigger than the first three as it handed MWSU its first loss in the NCAA Division II Central Region and left the Griffons one loss away from ending their season.
Missouri Western led 2-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth and Janie Smith coaxed the first Jennie batter to pop up to Shelbie Atwell at shortstop. Then the Jennies rattled off five straight hits to take a 4-2 lead. Carlie Rose got the streak started with a double to left before Madison Hood singled to second base. Then Kaite Giacone, the eight hole hitter, blasted a three-run home run to straight away center field to put give the Jennies a two-run lead. The UCM run didn’t stop there as Makayla Schoonover singled through the right side and Ali Jo Rogers had another infield hit before Sydney Washington had a Lindsey Dawson fly to left go in and out of her glove to score two more runs. A walk, wild pitch and an RBI single made it a 7-2 lead before the Griffons could get out of the inning. Katie Shockley retired the Griffons in order to end the game and improve the Jennies record to 45-14 on the year.
Smith got off to a brilliant start, striking out five through the first two innings and allowing just five hits and one run through the first five innings. She stepped into the circle with a one-run lead after an RBI double by Tiffany Gillaspy put MWSU up 1-0 in the first. The Griffons made it 2-0 in the fourth when Paige Shifflett hit her ninth home run of the season on the first pitch of the inning. Shockley buckled down from that point on, allowing just one more Griffon hit after Shifflett’s homer in the fourth.
Smith fell to 19-12 on the season, giving up 11 hits and seven runs, five of them earned. She struck out five and walked three. MWSU had just four hits, getting two from Morgan Rathmann and one each from Gillaspy and Shifflett.
Missouri Western will play an elimination game Saturday at 2:30 PM against Arkansas Tech. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 1550 and here on StJosephPost.com.
— MWSU Sports Information —