COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Softball split a doubleheader on day two at the Dot Richardson Invitational in Clermont, Fla., moving to 3-1 on the season. The Tigers dropped a tight 1-0 contest to UCF, but responded and beat Cleveland State, 4-2, in the afternoon.
Mizzou's opening game of the doubleheader against UCF featured a gritty pitching duel. Sophomore pitcher Tori Finucane (Germantown, M.D.) matched the Golden Knights' Shelby Turnier inning for inning until the seventh frame.
Finucane threw 6.1 innings in the circle, allowing just four hits and zero earned runs. She struck out four and walked only three batters.
Turnier tossed a complete game shutout and kept Mizzou at bay until the seventh inning. With one out, junior Emily Crane (Troy, Mo.) slapped a single up the middle and stole second for her second swipe of the season in two attempts.
Then sophomore Kirsten Mack (Riverside, Calif.) worked a full count walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. A deep fly out ended the Mizzou rally. UCF walked off in the seventh inning after a lead-off double and a single.
The Tigers bounced back in their second contest of the day against Cleveland State. Freshman pitcher Paige Lowary (Dallas Center, Iowa) continued a strong start to her collegiate career. Lowary collected her second win in two days, racking up eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. She surrendered one run on three hits.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Mizzou knotted the score after sophomore Jordan Zolman (Arbyrd, Mo.) crushed a lead-off double in her first at bat of the season. Sophomore Anna Reed (Lonedell, Mo.) pinch ran for Zolman and a CSU error on an infield pop allowed her to score from second.
Mizzou and CSU were deadlocked in a 1-1 tie until the bottom of the fifth. Senior Alyssa Cousins (Carollton, Texas) sparked the big inning with a pinch-hit double to left field. Taylor Gadbois (Maryville, Mo.) reached on an infield single to put two runners on, setting the table for junior Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.).
Fagan crushed the team's first home run of the 2015 campaign, a three-run blast to give the Tigers a 4-1 advantage. She has a team-leading six RBI through Mizzou's first four games.
Sophomore pitcher Cheyenne Baxter (Norborne, Mo.) entered in the sixth frame to relieve Lowary. Baxter threw 1.2 efficient innings, securing her first career save in the outing.
Mizzou is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 15. The Tigers take on South Dakota State at 10:30 a.m. CT to wrap up play at the Dot Richardson Invitational. For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouSoftball.