Mizzou Outslugs Fordham for 7-5 Victory

Friday, March 13

Raleigh, N.C.

10:15AM

University of Missouri

16-3

Fordham

9-8

Missouri

Fordham

3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

March 13, 2015

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. - Junior RF Emily Crane's (Troy, Mo.) solo home run in the top of the fifth inning over the scoreboard to deep right field broke a 4-4 tie with Fordham, and keyed the Mizzou Softball team's 7-5 win Friday afternoon over the Rams in MU's opening game in the N.C. State Hyatt Place Invitational.

Crane, who went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, later produced a two-run single in the sixth inning to give the Tigers a 7-4 lead at the time. In addition to her three RBI, Crane scored twice to support starting RHP Tori Finucane (Germantown, Md.), who went 5.0 innings and got the win to improve to 7-3 on the season. Mizzou improved to 16-3 overall on with the victory, winning its eighth straight game, while Fordham fell to 9-8.

It was a back-and-forth game, and while the Tigers never trailed, they had a tough time pulling away from the Rams. Mizzou would hold leads of 2-0 and 4-2, but Fordham rallied to tie the game each time, until Crane's late offensive heroics would provide the cushion.

The Tigers got on the board right away as junior CF Taylor Gadbois (Maryville, Mo.) led off with a single, stole second, and later scored from third on a one-out sacrifice fly by senior SS Corrin Genovese (East Amherst, N.Y.). They would extend the lead to 2-0 on a one-out solo home down the left-field line by senior 1B Kelsea Roth (Yorba Linda, Calif.), her third homer of the year, and third in four games.

Fordham would strike in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer by C Kayla Lombardo to tie the game at two-apiece, but freshman 3B Amanda Sanchez' two-out, two-run single up the middle in the top of the third plated Gadbois and Crane, who had singled and walked, respectively, to start the frame.

The Rams would answer with a single run in their half of the third on a one-out single, and would later load the bases, but Finucane worked out of the jam to maintain Mizzou's 4-3 lead.

Fordham would tie it at 4-all in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo home run to right field by 1B Madison Shaw. But the Tigers would respond in the fifth, when Crane launched her second home run of the season, giving Mizzou a 5-4 lead.

Fordham would threaten in the fifth, as they had runners on the corners with two outs after a pair of hits, but Finucane got out of the jam by striking out Rams' pitcher, Rachel Gillen (5-3), to end the inning.

Crane would continue her big game in the Tiger sixth when she produced a two-out, two-run single to right, scoring sophomore 2B Natalie Fleming (Silex, Mo.) and Gadbois to extend the lead to 7-4.

Finucane struck out a season-high seven batters in her 5.0 innings of work, as she worked around seven hits, one walk and two hit batters.

She had challenges navigating the bottom of the Fordham lineup, as Rams hitters six through nine accounted for five of their seven hits off of her, including both homers.

Sophomore RHP Cheyenne Baxter (Norborne, Mo.) came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and allowed two hits and a run, but stopped the damage there as the Tigers took a 7-5 lead into the seventh. She pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning (striking out two in the frame) to earn her third save of the season.

The Tigers will face Lipscomb today, with first pitch scheduled for roughly 1 p.m. central time. They will play two more games Saturday (Binghamton at 12:30 p.m./North Carolina State at 5 p.m.), before wrapping up the five-game, three-day tournament with an early-morning Sunday game against Longwood (8:30 a.m.).

Fans are encouraged to check MUTigers.com and the softball team's social media outlets, @MizzouSoftball on Twitter, for updates and additional information.