Feb. 11, 2005
Tallahassee, Fla. - The Missouri softball team went 2-0 at the Seminole Classic today after knocking off No. 10 Florida State, 3-2, in nine innings at the Seminole Softball Complex. Led by the strong arm of sophomore pitcher Erica Peterson (Irving, Texas), the Tigers rallied for a three-run win off of the powerful bat of junior Kendra Power (Kansas City, Mo.).
Tied at one entering the top of the ninth, Florida State squeaked out a one-run advantage but Peterson was able to shutdown the Seminole offense with back-to-back strikeouts. Starting the bottom of the ninth with sophomore Alli Kennewell on second base under the tournament tie-breaker rule, sophomore catcher Kathy Masterson (St. Louis, Mo.) offered up a sacrifice bunt down the third-base line to advance Kennewell to third. In her only hit of the game, Power came through with one out on the board, bringing home the game-tying run with her single and advancing to second on the failed throw home. Returning to the top of the lineup, an infield fly brought up junior newcomer Janessa Roening (Port Angeles, Wash.), who reached first on an error allowing Power to touch home for the game-winning run.
Peterson earned the win, tallying eight strikeouts in the final five innings of work. The southpaw held FSU hitless, giving up only one walk and one run. Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) opened the game for the Tigers, giving up five hits and one run in four innings.
"This team went out there today believing that they could win, and playing with the will to win," Head Coach Ty Singleton said. "Tomorrow we'll head to the field and continue to expect to win. The exciting aspect of today's series is that we all know there are still areas that we can improve and work on. We can only get better as this season progresses."
Earlier in the afternoon, Missouri shut out Nicholls State 7-0 for its first win of the season.
Missouri will return to Seminole Softball complex tomorrow for the final two games of the tournament, opening with Nicholls State at noon (CT) and wrapping up with Florida State at 2 p.m. (CT).