Feb. 25, 2000

Box Score

A two hour rain delay and extra innings in the first game and a long second game added up to nearly eight hours of game time for the Missouri Tiger softball team at the Lady Back Invitational in Fayetteville Arkansas. And that doesn't include the hour they had to wait for their first game to start and the fifteen minutes between games. The Tigers were able to overcome all this and a very worthy opponent to defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5-4 and 4-3.

Missouri's first game was to begin at 11 a.m. Due to heavy rain the game was postponed until noon. The teams got in three innings before the downpour began again. The Tigers were up 1-0 before the rain delay. Sophomore Erin Erickson scored on a passed ball in the first inning.

Two hours later the teams took the field again. Neither team scored until the seventh inning. The Irish scored four runs in the top of the seventh to put them up 4-1. The Tigers had had enough losing after Minnesota, so they wen to work with their bats and tied the game at four in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings. Junior Karen Williams scored on a Christy Skouby sacrifice fly to win the game in the bottom of the tenth.

Freshman pitcher Ingrid Werner started the game for the Tigers and continued to pitch after being nailed in the shoulder by a line drive before the rain delay. She faced one batter in the eighth inning before junior Stephanie Falk came in to finish the game.

Missouri also faced Notre Dame in the second game of the day. It was just as exciting as the first, minus the rain delay and the extra innings.

Notre Dame started the scoring. They scored two runs off tow doubles in the bottom of the second and one run off a double in the third. Once again the Tigers were not going to back down. In the top of the fourth, freshman Kristen Burke, pinch running for senior Linda Swarts, scored on a Mary McGrane ground out to second base. Erickson scored on a Williams RBI single to left field.

The Tigers took care of business defensively in the bottom of the fourth and set out to win the game in the fifth. Senior Stacy Gemeinhardt scored on a Skouby fielder's choice, after reaching on a single and stealing second and third. The winning run scored on a sacrifice fly once again. This time freshman Sara Vassmer scored on a Swarts sacrifice fly.

Falk also picked up this win for the Tigers. Her record improves to 4-2.

Missouri will have a double header against Virginia tomorrow in day two of the Lady Back Invitational. The games are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.