April 13, 2010
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The No. 11 Missouri softball team returned to the win column on Tuesday, as they swept a doubleheader against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. The Tigers defeated the Cougars by an 11-1 final in game one and a 6-0 score in game two. Missouri improves to 29-8 on the season with the two victories.
In game one, the Tigers connected on a season-high 14 hits while scoring 11 times. Junior Rhea Taylor and freshman Lindsey Muller each went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in. Freshman Jenna Marston also collected three RBI on a 1-for-3 day, extending her team-leading RBI total to 34 on the season. Juniors Catherine Lee and Marla Schweisberger and senior Gina Schneider all collected two hits apiece.
Senior Jana Hainey went the distance for her first complete game of the season, pitching all five innings while allowing just four hits and one run. She walked one and struck out one as she advanced to 4-0 on the season.
Missouri wasted no time in getting the offense going in game one, as each of the first two runners reached base to kick-start a three-run inning. Taylor singled through the left side on the second pitch she saw, and would steal second, her 21st stolen base of the year. Lee roped a liner into left, advancing Taylor to third. A sacrifice fly by Marston scored the first run of the game to give the Tigers an early lead. Following a walk and a pop out, Muller delivered a single to center, plating both Lee and sophomore Ashley Fleming to put Mizzou up 3-0 after one.
In the second, a sacrifice fly by Lee extended the Missouri lead to 4-0. Schweisberger and Schneider hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and advanced to second and third on Taylor's sac bunt to set up Lee's sac fly.
SIUE got on the board with a one out double into the left-center field gap, scoring Lauren Zembruski, who led off the inning with a single.
After a scoreless third, the Tiger offense got right back at it with a two-run fourth. With one out, Schweisberger and Schneider once again went back-to-back with singles, while Taylor followed with an infield single to load the bases. Lee then connected with a single up the middle, plating Schweisberger for her second RBI of the game. A groundout by Marston scored Schneider, putting Mizzou up 6-1.
A five-run fifth inning blew the game wide open and would be all the Tigers would need to put SIUE away via run-rule. Following a leadoff hit by pitch, Muller doubled for her third hit of the game, while also plating freshman Princess Krebs, who was pinch running. Junior Shana White then reached on an infield single, and two batters later Taylor roped a three-run home run over the right field fence. Junior Megan Christopher reached second on a dropped fly ball by the right fielder, and would score Mizzou's 11th and final run of the game on a single back up the middle by Marston.
In game two, the Tigers pushed across six runs on nine hits, as they shutout the Cougars by a 6-0 total.
Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann snapped a two-game skid, as she went all seven innings while allowing no runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking none to improve her record to 9-6 on the season. The complete game was Nottelmann's sixth of the season.
In the top of the second, Hudson led things off with a bloop double into right field, and advanced to third as White reached via an error by the first baseman. Schweisberger followed with a single into short center field, plating Hudson and putting the Tigers up 1-0. Schneider then laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving White and Schweisberger up one base each. White would then score on a groundout by Taylor. Lee followed with an RBI double into left-center, giving Mizzou a 3-0 lead.
Mizzou was held scoreless until the top of the fifth, when they pushed across one run on two hits. Taylor led off the inning with a leadoff double, as she hit a liner over the shortstop's head and used her speed to easily take second base. Lee followed with a double of her own off the fence, plating Taylor for her second RBI of the game, extending the Missouri lead to 4-0.
SIUE put together their first threat of game two in the bottom of the sixth. Whitney Davis led off the inning with a double into the right-center field gap, while Lauren Zembruski blooped a single into right to advance Davis to third. However, Nottelmann buckled down and got the next batter to line into a double play that went off of Nottelmann's glove and caught by Marston in the air for the out. Marston then fired over to first to throw out Zembruski, who had taken off trying to steal on the pitch. Nottelmann then got Kasey Schlafke to fly out to left to end the inning and the threat.
The Tigers added to their lead in the seventh on an RBI double off the center field wall by junior Lisa Simmons, scoring Marston who had been hit by a pitch. Hudson then followed with her second double of the game to drive home Simmons, extending the Tiger lead to 6-0.
Missouri will play their fifth game in as many days as the Tigers will head to Southern Illinois-Carbondale for a single game against the Salukis tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT to close out this five-game road trip.