KEARNEY, Neb. – After a sleepy offensive performance in game one, the bats came awake in game two as the No. 14 Missouri Western softball team earned a split at Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. The split left the team 2-2 after a weekend road swing.

GAME 1: Nebraska-Kearney 3, #14 MWSU 1

Missouri Western jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first game of the day but couldn’t manage any more offense or keep the Lopers off the board.

Nebraska-Kearney tied the game at one in the bottom of the first and added two more in the fifth to take the game 3-1. Paige Shifflett was the only Griffon with more than one hit, going 2-3 with one driven in. The Griffons left five on base. Janie Smith was tagged with the loss. The junior gave up three earned runs on six hits in six innings. She struck out three and walked two.

GAME 2: #14 MWSU 10, Nebraska-Kearney 1 (6 innings)

The Griffons did all their scoring in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to get out of Kearney with a doubleheader split.

Trailing 1-0 after three, Sydney Washington led off the fourth by reaching on an error. Paige Shifflett put two on when she singled and Kailey Green reaching on a fielder’s choice brought Washington in to even the game at one. After Katie Klosterman lined out to the short stop, Shelbie Atwell put MWSU up 3-1 with a two-run home run to left center. Morgan Rathmann led off the top of the fifth with a triple, then scored on the play after a throwing error gave her time to get home. The team added three more in the inning on an RBI single by Shifflett, an RBI double by Kailey Green and an RBI single by Klosterman. MWSU tacked on three more in the sixth, beginning with Tiffany Gillaspy driving in two when she hit into a fielder’s choice. Shifflett added another RBI with a double to left center two batters later.

Shyanne Saladino picked up the win, going all six innings. She allowed just one run on five hits. All but one Griffon had at least one hit in the game. Shifflett went 3-4 with two RBIs. Green drove in two as did Atwell. Rathmann went 2-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.

The team sits at 28-12 after the weekend and 12-4 in the MIAA. They take a brief break from travel with a doubleheader at home against Central Missouri on Tuesday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

HAYS, Kan. – The Missouri Western baseball team came up on the short end of two offensive explosions Friday at Fort Hays State.  The Tigers swept a doubleheader on day one of the series, winning both games in walk-off fashion.

GAME 1: Fort Hays 10, MWSU 9

The Tigers came out on top of a back and forth game that saw both teams come back from three runs down, Fort Hays accomplishing it twice. Fort Hays tied the game at nine on a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, then won the game with a bases loaded sacrifice fly.

The Griffons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first with an RBI single from Mitch Thorman and a two-run home run from David Glaude. Fort Hays jumped ahead 5-3 with five runs in the second. MWSU got one in the third, then hit three home runs in a four-run fourth inning to take an 8-5 lead. Trevor LaHonta led off the inning with solo shot down the left field line. Cosimo Cannella hit a two-run shot to center and Glaude followed with his second of the game. Hays got within two with a solo home run in the bottom half of the fourth but the Griffons made it a three-run lead with Glaude’s fourth RBI of the game making the score 9-6.

Glaude finished game one 3-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Ryan Degner was 3-5, hitting a double and a triple and scoring two runs. Dylon Koch and Cannella each had two hits. Mike Calimeno was tagged with the loss. He pitched two thirds of an inning in relief of starter Banks Born. Calimeno gave up two runs on three hits. Born went six innings, allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits.

GAME 2: Fort Hays 17, MWSU 16

Runs, runs and more runs was the theme of game two. Fort Hays scored in every inning except the fourth and the Griffons scored in all but the third, sixth and ninth innings. An RBI single up the middle brought the winning run home with two out in the bottom of the ninth.

This one was really about offense and not much else. The Griffons had 18 hits, which included four home runs, two triples and a double. On the other side, Fort Hays matched MWSU’s home run total and added two doubles with no triples. MWSU used five pitchers, including game one starter Banks Born. Born took the loss, his first of the season, going two thirds of an inning.

Glaude hit his third home run of the day in the eighth. His solo shot to left tied the game at 15. The next batter, Cody Childs hit his own solo homer to left that put the Griffons up by one. Fort Hays tied the game in the bottom half of the inning and won it on the single in the ninth.

Missouri Western led by five, 12-7, after scoring six in the top of the fifth. Down by one going into the fourth, LaHonta hit his second home run of the day, Childs added an RBI single, Corbin Duffy drove in two with a single and Ryan Degner hit a three-run home run down the left field line to give MWSU a brief five-run advantage.

Mitch Thorman, Duffy and LaHonta all had three hits. Degner went 2-6 with three RBIs and two scored. Orencio Fisher was 2-6 with four RBIs and a runs scored. Childs drove in two and scored two. Duffy drove in three and scored three times. Starter Josh Lansangan gave up seven runs on six hits in two and a third innings of work. All five Griffon pitchers surrendered at least one run.

The losses dropped MWSU to 18-14 overall and 12-10 in the MIAA. The two teams play another doubleheader on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

HAYS, Kan. – Two valiant comeback efforts ran out of time in Hays Friday afternoon as the Missouri Western softball team split a doubleheader with Fort Hays State Friday. The Tigers nearly came back from seven down in game one and the Griffons came up one run short of completing a seven run comeback themselves in game two.

GAME 1: #14 MWSU 7, Fort Hays 5

Missouri Western held off a late charge by Fort Hays to pick up the victory in game one. The Tigers scored five runs in the last two innings and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

The Griffons jumped out to a 7-0 lead after five and a half innings. The Tigers picked up three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to make it interesting. Kailey Green hit a three-run, two out home run in the first to put MWSU on the board. Green scored the team’s fourth run of the game in the fourth when she scored on Shelbie Atwell’s ground out. MWSU got three more two-out runs in the sixth. Tiffany Gillaspy drove in two with a doubled down the left field line and Sydney Washington made it 7-0 with a single up the middle that brought Gillaspy home.

Janie Smith hung on for the win, going all seven innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits. She struck out four and walked three. Smith improved her record to 13-5 on the year. Green went 2-4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored. Atwell and Megan Korgie both went 2-3, as did Washington.

GAME 2: Fort Hays 8, #14 MWSU 7

A similar script with a role reversal from game one saw Fort Hays jump out to a 7-0 lead after the first two innings. After one run in each in the third and fourth innings, the Griffons scored three in the fifth and two in the sixth to have a chance headed to the seventh.

After two straight one-hit shutouts, Shyanne Saladino had her scoreless innings streak snapped when she gave up a three-run home run in the first. Then she gave up another in the second that chased her from the game, or so it seemed. Taylor Schaben gave up a two-run home run to the first batter she faced in relief. Two batters later it became a 7-0 lead for the Tigers.

Sydney Washington put MWSU on the board in the top of the third with an RBI single and Kailey Green’s second home run of the day pulled the Griffon within five in the fourth. After an error and a single put two Fort Hays runners on in the fourth, Saladino reentered. She surrendered an RBI-single that put Fort Hays up 8-2 before recording the final out of the inning. An RBI single from Katie Klosterman and a two-RBI single from Shelbie Atwell pulled the Griffons within three in the fifth. MWSU added two more in the sixth with a run scoring when Gillaspy reached on an error and an RBI double from Green. Saladino retired the Tigers in order in the bottom of the inning to set up the last chance for MWSU. Atwell led off the top of the seventh with a walk before Brooke Schaben popped up to the shortstop. Rebekah Mueller reached on a fielder’s choice that took Atwell off the bases and another pop up to short by Rathmann ended the game.

Green finished game two 2-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. On the day, she was 4-7 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Klosterman also had two hits in game two, going 2-3.

The split left the team’s record at 27-11, 11-3 in the MIAA. MWSU plays at Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday.

— MWSU Sports Information —