Feb. 9, 2007
Baton Rouge, La. - The Missouri softball improved to 2-0 after winning its second game of the day, 8-3, over Middle Tennessee State at the Easton Tiger Classic in Tiger Park on the campus of Louisiana State University (LSU). The 2-0 start is the 19th in Missouri softball's 33 year history. Twirling two innings and making her 56th career start in the circle, junior Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) was credited with the win and improves to 40-25 in three years at Missouri.
The Tigers scored eight runs on 10 hits and took the early 1-0 lead after senior leadoff batter Leanne Bowers (Arnold, Mo.) scored an unearned run on a wild pitch. Bowers opened the game with a single up the middle, advanced to second on junior Sara Simons' (Kearney, Mo.) groundout to second and took third on a fielding error by Blue Raider centerfielder Martha Davis.
Holding Middle Tennessee State to only one hit in the bottom of the first and forcing three consecutive groundouts, the Tigers added to their run total when senior Amanda Jo White (Tallmadge, Ohio) scored the Tigers' second unearned run in the bottom of the second.
Missouri scored one run on three hits and an error by third baseman Melissa Weiland in the top of the third inning forcing junior Amy Candioto to enter the game in relief. In her first appearance of the tournament, Candioto sent a wild pitch to the backstop driving in Bowers' for the third Tiger run of the game. With runners on second and third, senior catcher Kathy Masterson (St. Louis, Mo.) stepped up to the plate and crushed her second double of the day to left field helping redshirt junior Micaela Minner (Sanger, Texas) and Simons advance home from second and third base, respectively. Masterson was 4-for-5 on the day hitting two doubles and a triple in her first two games of the season.
Sophomore shortstop Andee Allen (Barnhart, Mo.) scored Missouri's final two runs of the game in the fourth and sixth innings. In the fourth, Allen led off with a walk and scored on a groundout by Minner while in the sixth, she opened with a single up the middle and scored an unearned run on a Weiland's second fielding error of the game.
"We were happy to finally compete against someone other than ourselves," Head Coach Ehren Earleywine said. "Although we didn't do everything perfect it was still nice to get two wins and to finally have an opportunity to play outdoors."
The Tigers will resume action in the eighth annual Easton Tiger Classic tomorrow when they take on 1-1 Memphis at 11:15 a.m. (CT). Following the morning game, Missouri will play ninth-ranked host LSU (2-0) at 1:30 p.m. The round robin tournament will wrap up Sunday, Feb. 11, with a championship game held at 2 p.m.