No. 20 Mizzou Softball Outscores Western Illinois, 23-5, En Route to Doubleheader Sweep

Wednesday, April 15

Macomb, Ill.

5:00PM

University of Missouri

28-10

Western Illinois

13-16

Missouri

Western Illinois

Natalie Fleming remained hot at the plate against Western Illinois

No. 20 Mizzou Softball Outscores Western Illinois, 23-5, En Route to Doubleheader Sweep

4/15/2015 11:11:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

By: Sophomore Natalie Fleming went 4-for-6 with five RBI, reaching base six times in the pair of games

Macomb, Ill. - No. 21 Mizzou Softball improved to 28-10 on the season after cruising to a doubleheader sweep over Western Illinois on Wednesday. The Tigers overcame an early deficit to take game one handily, 15-4, and kept the momentum going in an 8-1 victory to round out a successful evening on the road.

After hitting a three-run home run to seal a series-clinching, run-rule win over Mississippi State on Sunday, sophomore Natalie Fleming (Silex, Mo.) picked up right where she left off in Wednesday's doubleheader. With Mizzou facing a 3-0 deficit in the third inning of the first contest, Fleming roped a solo home run, just her second long ball of the season, to put her squad on the board.

When the lineup rolled around in fifth frame, the Tigers still trailed 4-1 with Fleming at the plate and runners at second and third. The sophomore capitalized, smacking a triple to drive in two runs. The ball eventually skipped away from Western Illinois, allowing Fleming to come all the way around to score on the play.

Mizzou tacked on three more runs in the inning on a couple RBI singles from Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.) and Kirsten Mack (Riverside, Calif.), and a bases loaded walk by senior Angela Randazzo (Poway, Calif.) to grab a 7-4 lead.

The Tigers never looked back and poured it on in the sixth and seventh innings. Fagan collected an RBI double and an RBI single. She went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the first game of the afternoon. Randazzo, Mack and senior Corrin Genovese (East Amherst, N.Y.) all turned in multi-hit and multi-RBI performances as Mizzou plated eight more runs to score 15 runs for only the second time this season.

Mizzou continued to flash offensive prowess in the second game of the doubleheader while Paige Lowary (Dallas Center, Iowa) tossed a solid outing to earn the 12th win of her young career. Lowary threw 4.0 innings, giving up just one hit and one run while striking out three.

The Tigers didn't need a comeback to take game two as they jumped in front early in the first inning. Mizzou batted around and piled on four runs in the opening frame. Fagan ripped an RBI single to score Taylor Gadbois (Maryville, Mo.) to hand her squad a 1-0 lead. Then an error, a double in the gap off the bat of Mack and a bases loaded walk by Fleming gave the Tigers a four-run cushion.

Fleming stayed hot in the third. Following a lead-off triple by Kelsea Roth (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Fleming lined a base knock to grab her fifth RBI of the day. After a fourth-inning error pushed Mizzou up 6-0, freshman Paige Bange (Jefferson City, Mo.) polished off the sweep with a sharp, two-RBI double in the fifth frame.

Mizzou is back in action when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on border rival Arkansas in a three-game set. The series begins Friday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. CT and coverage on SEC Network +. For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouSoftball.